In the ashes of the old
by sci-fi brony
Summary: Equestria has fallen into chaos because a deadly disease. It sits ungoverned and in shambles. Ponies fight for their lives in this cruel new world. Will order be restored? If so then by who? Can the ponies escape from this dark age or will they become no more than monsters?
1. Cutting Edge

**A/N: Before I begin I would like to say a few things. First, I will not be updating this story that often. I am mostly writing this because I have extra time because I can't upload chapters of the story I am focusing on because they have to be reviewed and edited by my friend. my current focus is on "Vision's vision." It will have priority over this story. Second is that I know this has been done before but I haven't read any of the stories that have post apocalyptic settings so I don't want to hear any "This guy already did this. You are copying him." No I am not copying anyone. If I write something that sounds similar to another author I am sorry but it is accident. Thirdly I suck at beginnings so give it a few chapters if you don't like it right off the bat. Now I will give you my take on post apocalyptic Equestria. Please review. **

Chapter 1: Cutting Edge

The sun sat high in the sky. It rays beating down on Cutting Edge. Cutting Edge was a young unicorn stallion with a black coat and a short dark brown mane and tail. His cutie mark was a screwdriver next to some tape. His only other defining feature was a large scar on his the right side of his barrel, it was in a downward slant that started on the top of his foreleg on ended at the beginning of his hind leg.

He walked along the road, knowing that it was dangerous but it had better hoofing than the dirt. Some animal had dug small holes that a pony could trip in and break a leg, making it safer to walk on the road. He stayed observant to avoid danger. He started to enter a town the sign read. "Welcome to Ponyville."

Cutting Edge could tell it was a small town. _'Maybe I won't run into any trouble here.' _He kept a brisk pace. The first houses were in view. He could see that more than a few were run down and more than likely abandoned. _'Good as any I have seen.' _He tried the door to see it was open. It didn't budge. _'Locked. But not bared.' _He turned around and kicked the near the handle with his hind legs. The lock broke the wood at the handle making the door fling open. _'Surprised the hinges held after all this time.'_

Edge walked in cautiously, making sure no pony was in the home. _'This floor seems clear. Better check upstairs.'_ He started up the stairs. He heard some movement. He ducked out of instinct. He crept up the stairs. He pulled his makeshift sword from it's sheathe. It was a old piece of metal that Edge had sharpened and bonded to a piece of pipe. The pipe had some cloth around it in case he had to use his teeth instead of magic. This was not one of those times. He reached the top of the stairs.

He saw three doors. Two a couple of feet on either side of him and one on the right down the hallway. He approached the first door on the right. He used his magic to open before getting too close. He scanned as much as he could before entering. It was a bedroom. The blue curtains blocked most of the light from entering the room. He saw no pony but they could easily be hiding behind or even under the bed. He stopped to listen. He heard the house creak but that was normal for most homes now a days. He was listening for something that most ponies forgot to do when hiding.

He heard it, the labored breathing of a pony with adrenaline pumping through their system. Edge would rather avoid conflict. "Come out and no pony will get hurt. I mean you no harm."

He could hear movement behind the bed. Before he could say anything more a yellow earth pony mare leaped out from behind the bed. She tried to rush him but he was ready. He pointed the sword at her. She was going to quick to stop. The sword plunged into her chest. She stopped her charge, looking down at the blade. The blade was straight with curves on each side to cause more damage. Blood seeped from the wound. Edge pulled the sword out with his magic. Blood started pouring from the wound. The mare put her hoof to her chest trying to stop the bleeding. It was no use. She started to scream from the shock of seeing her own blood. It was not a lot of screaming but it was a lot of blood. It wasn't long before a pool started to form. The mare was laying on the ground from not being able to stand. She slowly faded into unconsciousness. Her breathing was labored for a minute before she stopped breathing.

Edge watched all of this with no emotion. He had to watch to make sure she didn't try to kill him when his back was turned. It was no new site for him and didn't effect him. He flung the blood off his sword before sheathing it. _'Dumb ponies that don't know how talk or even ambush correctly for that matter.'_ He checked the rest of the house. No pony was found beside the one laying dead on the second floor. Edge checked for food, he found none. _'Probably why that pony attacked me. There isn't any food in here. I am glad I still have some food left from my trip.'_ He gathered some spare wood from outside and put it on the stove before lighting it. He removed the coils so they wouldn't get in the way. He brought a can of beans and a metal frame for the can to sit in while they cook. He had made it from parts he found around. He opened the can and set it in the frame. _'I am getting tired of beans.'_

He checked the beans every now and then while her set warning devices around the entrance. He set a whined up toy in the door so that if it moved the toy would start up and make noise. He looked at the setting sun. _'Yeah you still control the sun but you won't come out here and restore order will you, you piece of shit. I fallow no pony that abandons her ponies for her own safety. Fuck you Celestia!'_ He set a few more warning devices before taking his meal upstairs. He ate and fell asleep. He wished he could sleep soundly but he had seen too many dead bodies in beds to feel safe.

He woke early. He gathered his saddlebag and went to look for supplies around town. He knew better than to check a grocery store. They either had no food or were controlled by gangs. Too much risk. He searched the homes around town. He checked the homes marked with red Xs first. Most ponies were too scared to look for food there. But Edge knew that the disease was long gone. All you had to do was get over was the mental obstacle that a sick pony touched it. _'That virus seemed pretty dumb. I mean it died after a few weeks with no host. It did a hell of a good job infecting and killing ponies but now it is gone because either it couldn't find a host or ponies are immune. It is dead now and that is all that matters.'_ Cutting Edge entered a quarantined home. He began searching for ponies. He could hear motion upstairs. He had found ponies that helped him in his travels. Not every pony was out to harm another. He thought it was worth the risk. He had found no food in the other homes. He called out. "Hey! Is any pony here! I need supplies." He could here the movement halt upstairs.

Two stallions walked down the stairs. One was a earth pony, the other a Pegasus caring a spear in his wing. The Earth pony had a helmet with a large blade atop. The earth pony spoke. "You need supplies? What is in it for us?"

Edge looked at both ponies they were dirty and had many small scars on them. "I have supplies to trade but I need food."

The Pegasus took charge. "You have supplies do you? Well how about you hoof them over."

Edge drew his sword. "I don't think so." He started to back away towards the door. "I don't want a fight so I will leave. You follow me and I will not hesitate to cut you down."

The earth pony came closer. "I don't think so."

Edge new that he couldn't run. The Pegasus would be faster than him. The earth pony rushed him with his helmet lowered. Leaving him blind to Edge's blade. He cut the pony's legs. The blade was sharp enough to cut the flesh but not the bone. The earth pony fell to the ground screaming.

The Pegasus charged with his spear. Edge waited for the right time to dodge out of the way. He plunged his blade into the Pegasus' side. He screamed out in pain. Edge quickly brought the blade back before sticking it in the Pegasus' temple. He dropped to the ground lifeless.

The earth pony noticed and voiced his opinion. "You bastard! You killed my friend." Edge looked at him. "I acted in self defense. If any pony killed your friend it was you." The earth pony lay on the ground. "If you had just given your stuff we wouldn't have had to attack you." Edge got close to the pony. He lift his helmet off his head. "I would have died without my supplies. Now you will join your friend in hell." Edge took the sword and delve it into the ponies skull. "May you burn for your sins."

A third pony ran down the stairs. "Have you guys handled that idiot yet?" It was a unicorn stallion. He stopped when he saw his buddies lying on the floor in pools of their own blood. "Oh shit!" He saw Edge standing with his blade. The unknown unicorn shot magic at Edge.

Cutting Edge had learned some shielding spells from his father. He shielded himself from the violent magic. He didn't know any harmful magic so he picked up the spear from the dead Pegasus and lobbed it at the unicorn on the stairs. It made contact with his left foreleg. He fell down the stairs as a result. Edge closed the gap while his opponent was disabled. He slit the ponies throat and crushed his horn with a hoof stomp. The pony bled out not long after. Edge went upstairs to check for others. He was going to the last room when he heard crying.

He opened the door and stepped in. He immediately received a shriek. "No! don't hurt me again." He could see that the light purple Pegasus mare had been beaten. Bruises cover her face and legs. Her mane was grey and ruffled as if it had been pulled on. She was cowering in a corner. Edge sheathed his sword and moved closer. "Hey, hey. I am not going to hurt you." The mare looked at him. She didn't look any more confident. He could tell that she had been crying. "You aren't? Are you not one of them?"

Edge looked to the door. "Those horrible ponies? No I am not."

"Then why did they let you up here?"

Edge tapped the sheathe on his left shoulder. "My pal here let them retire, forever."

The mare looked in horror. "You killed them? But there was three of them. Do you have friends?"

"No. I am alone. My question is what am I going to do with you."

Fear struck the mare. "Not again! Don't hurt me. I submit just don't hit me, I can't stand it anymore!"

"Whoa there girl. I have no such thoughts. What did they do to you?"

The mare tried to hide her body. "They… They beat me when I told them no. They beat me until I submitted. They took their turn with me. Each using me. I… I just laid there after a while. I tried to imagine being somewhere else but I could feel them. They laughed and joked while they did it. I was helpless. I couldn't do anything to stop them."

Edge had seen this before but needed to confirm what he was hearing. "They raped you didn't they?" The mare nodded as tears ran down her cheeks. She buried her head in her hooves. Edge was wondering how she got here. "Why were you here? Did they live here or did you?" She looked up at him. "They lived here."

"How did you get here then?"

"My father and mother were traveling and we were coming through town when they ambushed us. They killed my father before we knew what was happening. Mother tried to fight back but she was not a strong mare. They killed her when she resisted. They dragged me all the way her along with our stuff."

Edge was getting tired of running into ambush parties. "You can get you things and leave. I will not stop you." Edge turned to leave the room. "Wait! Don't go." He turned to the mare. She continued talking. "I don't have anywhere to go. I have no pony to help me. I don't know what to do."

Edge thought he knew where this was going. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"I want to stay with you. You seem to handle yourself well."

"I don't think so missy. I don't want any pony to keep me company."

The mare stood up and headed towards him. "Please. I won't survive on my own. I can help you."

Edge gave a questioning look. "What can you do for me?"

The mare looked helpless. "I can sew. I can make you clothes. It will be cold soon and you will need it." Edge didn't look phased. The mare hated it but she didn't think she would survive on her own. She offered the only other thing she could think of. "I…I can ple-pleasure you." She looked very unsure.

Edge had no interest in this mare. _'She is willing to do that? Right after she was… She must not know how to live. I can't leave her to die. Damn it! I hate having morals some times.'_ Edge gave the mare an irritated look. "Fine. You can stay with me, but I don't want you to uuh… Pleasure me. I want you to do exactly what I say, when I say it. If you deviate then you can no longer follow me. You got that?"

The mare nodded. "What is your name?"

Edge might as well indulge the mare. "I am Cutting Edge."

"Do you like to go by Cutting or Edge?"

"How about you call me Cutter?"

"That sounds good. My name is Golden Eye."

The ponies were face to face and could easily see each other's eye color. He had a deep blue and she had eyes to match her name, she had a beautiful gold. Edge looked over to her flank. Her cutie mark was a needle with some hay straws lying next to it. Edge was curious. "What does your cutie mark represent?" Golden looked at her cutie mark. "Well I have a really good eye for finding things. My cutie mark seems to go off the saying of finding a needle in a hay stack. I always seem to notice small details and find stuff that other ponies looked over. What about your's?"

Cutter began to walk out of the room. "It represents my skill to craft items. My dad always told me that I could make priceless artifacts from tissue paper and some tape." Golden followed her savior. "Where is your family?" Cutter kept looking for supplies. "Same as yours, dead. Now go and find supplies. You start pulling your weight or I drop you. We can talk later." Golden wanted to know the pony she was staying with but didn't want to be abandoned. She went and looked around. She found some medical supplies and food. She brought the first aid box with the supplies to Cutter. "Here I found some ointments and some breakfast bars." Edge looked them over. "Good, did you check all of upstairs?"

"Yes I double checked everywhere."

"Good. Your stuff is in the back room. Take what you need, nothing more. Pack it and have it ready to leave in a few minutes. These guys might have had some friends, and I don't want more trouble than I already have."

Golden did as he directed. She went to the back room to gather her stuff. She found her saddlebag as well as her parents. She had been avoiding thinking about it but she now felt lonely. She looked in all of the saddlebags She gather all of the important things. She found a locket with her father and mother smiling together in better times. She looked at it before packing it. "What do you think your doing?" Cutter stood behind Golden watching her. She turned to face him. "What do you mean? I am packing like you said."

Cutter floated the locket out of the saddlebag. "You don't need this. You are wasting space by keeping it. They are dead now. Keeping a locket will not bring them back."

Golden snatched it from the air. "I know it won't bring them back but as long as I remember them they live on in me."

Edge shook his head. "Fine keep the thing. When you are hungry and there is no food because you couldn't fit it in then don't whine to me. We are leaving now." He walked off.

Golden put her saddlebag on and followed. _'You don't have to be an ass.'_

Cutter led them back to the previous house that he stayed in. He began to cook the food they found in the bandits home. They found enough to last a few days. The pair sat down and ate. Golden took the time to get to know about her company. "You know what happened to my parents, but what happened to your's?"

Cutter swallowed his bite of food. "Well, they died. Simple as that. Mom died when I was young. We needed shelter and we picked a cave out. It wasn't the best place to stay but we needed to rest and it would soon rain. Unfortunately a bear had already picked that as it's home. When we were trying to leave the bear hit mom. It didn't even cut her it just hit her. We escaped and dad built us a little shelter from the rain. It wasn't very good and he worked in the rain to complete it. We all laid down together and went to sleep. The next morning I woke up to mom's dead body next to me. She had bleed internally and died while I cuddled next to her."

"Dad's death was similar. We got attacked by bandits one day and we had to fight them off. We managed to kill them but both dad and I took some damage. That is what this thing is from." He showed his scar on his side. " Dad had to use all our medicine on me. He ended up getting an infection and dieing as well. So I was right next to mom as she died and I was the reason my dad died. There you go, my families passing. I hope you enjoyed the story because I am going to bed." Cutter got up and went upstairs.

Golden finished her food. She could tell that he was upset. She didn't bother him, she went to the other bedroom and laid down. _'I wonder what Equestria was like before the plague. Mom always told me that ponies lived in harmony. Maybe one day we will live like that again.'_ "Rest in peace mom and dad."

**A/N: Well that is the first chapter. I hoped you liked it. Happy thoughts on yall. **


	2. Watch your back

Chapter 2: Watch your back.

Golden Eye lay on the bed fast asleep. Morning light shined through the closed windows. "Wake up!" Cutting Edge stood near the door. Golden raised her head slowly as she woke. "What?" Cutter gestured for her to follow him. He went downstairs.

Golden rolled off the bed. She followed the stallion. She found him with his saddlebag on waiting by the door. "Why did you wake me up?" The unicorn rolled his eyes. "Because we need to look for supplies. We have enough food for a few days but we need more. Don't bother getting your things. I hid them so that no pony steals it while we are gone. How are you not dead already? You sleep like a rock. If I was a bandit then I could have easily killed you."

Golden needed this pony but didn't think he needed to be rude. "Don't be so mean. I told you I wasn't ready to survive on my own. Dad always made sure I had everything I needed." She looked a little down remembering her family. It was easy yesterday because she was in shock but now she felt lonely and Cutter was no comfort.

"Apparently he didn't give you all you need or you would know how to survive." Golden wouldn't let him talk about the dead that way. "Don't you say anything about my father. He was a great stallion. He loved and cared for me, he always made me feel safe." Golden had brought back memories that she now realized would never happen again. She began to cry quietly.

Cutter noticed this. He went to the mare. He rubbed her shoulder. "I am sorry. I am sure your dad was a great stallion, but we need to get moving. He wouldn't want you to starve." Golden stopped her crying. "You are right. Where are we going?" Cutter left the building with Golden behind him. "I don't have a specific place to look but we need to search the homes around here." Golden wondered why search the homes. "Why not look at a grocery store or something like that?" Cutter had thought that few times, but it always ended being harder than expected. "Stores would be a great idea if you want to die. They are a last resort. Most of the time bandits guard them for the supplies and future supplies of dumb ponies who wonder in. To put it simply it is a death trap."

Golden hadn't thought about other ponies. "What do we do if we run into other ponies?" Cutter stopped. "We have a few options. If we need something we can trade with the right ponies. Most ponies we will need to avoid. there is a few ponies that will try to steal what we have , those ponies we will try to avoid but if it comes to it then we will kill them."

Golden had never killed a pony. "Kill them? I can't kill a pony. It is wrong to kill another pony."

"It is wrong to kill ponies? No it isn't. It is wrong to kill good ponies. If I didn't kill ponies than you would either be dead or a sex slave. Do you want that?" Golden lost her will to fight. "No. I don't want that." Edge pushed his hoof to her. "Then you will do as I say. If I tell you to kill then you better kill." He continued to walk.

They found house marked with a red X again. Cutter tried the door. It opened. "Perfect." He proceeded inside. Golden wasn't sure if to come in or not. "Doesn't the red X mean that ponies are sick in here?" Cutter answered in a hushed voice. "Quiet. Yes it meant that they were sick. Every pony that caught the virus has died by now."

Golden did as he said and talked low. "Can't we catch it from their stuff though?" Cutter began to check the home for ponies. "No. The virus couldn't last long without a host. It is safe to be here. Now check for ponies. We don't know if any pony is here." The two checked every room in the home. No sign of any pony. They then searched for supplies. They found a lot of food but not much else. Cutter found metal that he could use but that was all.

Golden did a second sweep. She could smell mildew and her body ached from her beating yesterday. _'What is that smell? It isn't mildew it smells like… I don't know, but it is horrible.'_ She dragged her hooves on the rug. She felt something bump her hoof. "What the…" She lifted the rug. There was a hatch on the floor. "Hey Cutter. I found something." Cutter walked into the room. "What did you find?"

"It is a hatch to a basement I think." The door came into Cutter's view. He opened it up. A wretched smell hit the pair like a wall. Golden had never smelled something so rancid. "What is that smell?" Cutter knew the smell. "That is the smell of death." Golden didn't understand. "What do you mean?" Cutter got close enough to look down. "That is what a corpse smells like while it decays. I am going down there." Golden looked at the crazy unicorn. "What? Why do you want to go down there?" Cutter began descending the ladder. "Because there might be supplies. Why else?"

Edge's hoof hit the floor. He hopped off the ladder. It was dark and he couldn't see far. He used an illumination spell. The room lit up. Dust floated in the air. Cutter could finally see where the smell was coming from. Meat laid on counters along with blood splattered everywhere. Bones laid in the corners of the room. A pyramid of pony skulls lines the back wall. "Aw shit." Cutter heard a scream come from above. He rushed up the ladder. When stood in the room he saw Golden being held hostage by a earth pony. He had her on her hind legs with a blade up to her throat. Each of his fore hooves had straps with the blades attached.

Golden tried to explain what happened. "She snuck up behind m-" The earth pony smacked her with his hoof and quickly put it back to keep control. "Shut up!" The Earth pony looked a Cutter. "You! You will tell me why you are in my home or I will slit this slut's throat." The earth pony licked Golden's neck. Golden cringed and had tears in her eyes. She had no clue what to do. Luckily Edge did. "How about you release her and we leave peacefully."

"No! you will leave and then I will let her go. If you don't do as I say then I will kill her."

Cutter drew his sword. "Go ahead. Kill her." Both the ponies had questioned looks. 'If you kill her then I will kill you and you lose. This mare means little to me. I have only known her for a day. I will lose nothing. Hell! I will actually gain from having her food and not having to feed her."

The crazed pony didn't know what to do. She couldn't take on the stallion with no leverage. "I will let her go if you don't harm me." Cutter held his fighting stance. "Deal." The earth pony released Golden Eye. "Now keep your end of the bargain." Cutter waved his sword in the air. "I don't think so." He swung his sword at the pony's neck slicing a huge chunk out of her neck. The pony's eyes went wide as she covered her neck. Cutter brought back the sword and plunged it into the choking pony's head stopping her dead in her tracks. She fell over onto the floor.

Golden scuttled away. "Why did you do that!? She was going to let us leave." Cutter sheathed his sword. "No she wouldn't have. As soon as we turned our back she would have tried to kill me and then you." Golden remembered that Cutter had told the earth pony to kill her. "Why the fuck did you tell her to kill me!" Cutter was getting tired of Golden's dumb question. "Because she wouldn't do it. She would have no leverage and die by my hoof." Golden wasn't satisfied. "And what if she had gone though with it?" Cutter wasn't going to lie. "Then I would have killed her and kept your stuff for myself. It was your fault that you got into this situation. If you hadn't let her sneak up on you then you wouldn't have nearly died."

Golden sat on the floor staring at him. Cutter didn't care what she thought. "Get what you can. We are leaving as soon as I get the rest of the stuff." Golden did as he told and gathered the supplies she found. Cutter went back to the basement and after a few minutes returned. Golden could tell that he had put some stuff in his saddle bag. He grabbed the blade off of the dead pony. The two left with their stuff. Golden and Edge sat down to eat before laying down for the night. Golden was curious. "What did you find in the basement." Cutter answered calmly. "Just some dead ponies and knives." Golden was shocked. "Dead ponies?!"

Cutter continued eating his food. "Yeah. That mare must have been chopping up ponies. She might have even been eating them too." Golden had never heard of this. "Eating them? But that is so wrong!" Cutter shrugged it off. "What makes it worse is that we can't even digest meat. The cannibals throw it up after they eat it." Golden felt like she was going to hurl. "Why do you think she was eating them?"

"Well she was chopping them up for certain and I think I saw bite marks in the chopped pieces. I would dismiss it but I have found communities that had sacrifices they ate. Most of the time it was outsiders. I found out because I walked into one. They were really nice. They offered me food and shelter. The way I found out was when I was suppose to be sleeping, I overheard then talking about it. I high tailed it out of there as soon as I could. I killed one on the way out. Serves the bastard right." Cutter finished his meal. "Well goodnight."

He went upstairs leaving Golden alone with her thoughts. _'Damn it! I have nearly died two days in a row. Will he kick me out if I don't straighten up? I can't risk it. I have to do better. I have to make myself useful.'_

**A/N: That is the second chapter. Hope you enjoyed.**


	3. New tools

**A/N: Ok so we are on chapter 3. I hope that you are liking the story so far. Please review.**

Chapter 3: New tools.

Golden awoke. She stretched before getting out of bed. She could tell that it was later in the morning. _'Why didn't Cutter wake me up?'_ She brushed her grey mane making it into it's natural straight nature. She checked Cutter's room, he was not there. _'Where could he be?'_ She headed downstairs to check she didn't find him. She found some scrap across the floor in organized groups. She also found a large stone in the pile. She heard the door close behind her. She quickly turned out of fear of danger. She relaxed when she saw Cutter standing with a towel over his back. "Why do you have a towel and why didn't you wake me?"

Cutter dried his dark fur. "I have the towel because I just came from a stream not far from here. It is hard to hide when the enemy can smell you. Speaking of smell, you are next." Golden was offended. "Are you saying I stink?" Cutter didn't care. "Yes I am. I will get another towel and lead you to the water." Cutter walked away. Golden was left standing there like an idiot. _'What does he expect? I have not been able to search for anything on my own and I ran out of perfume days ago.'_ Edge came back with a dry towel. He had his saddle bag, He packed his scrap up and led Golden to the stream.

The stream was slow and nothing to worry about. Golden took the towel from Cutter. "Thank you for showing me. You can leave now." Cutter looked at the lavender mare. "Leave?" Golden wondered why he asked. "Yes leave. You can't stay here. You can't watch a mare bathe." Cutter rolled his eyes. He felt that his eye were getting a good workout from being around this mare. "I am not going to watch you. I will be working with my scrap while you clean yourself."

Golden didn't have a problem with him staying as long as he couldn't see her "Where will you be working on it?" Cutter put his saddlebag down. "Right here." Golden couldn't let him stay here. "No. You can't do it right here. You can easily turn and see me." Cutter was finishing this. "If I remember correctly. The first day you offered yourself to me. Why do you have a problem with me looking if I wanted to, which I don't. Now stop your whining, bathe, and hurry so that we can go home. I don't like being out in the open." Cutter scanned his surroundings. His eyes lingered in the sky.

Golden walked In the water and began cleaning herself. Every now and then she would look over to check on Edge. He paid no attention to her. He was splitting his attention between watching out for ponies and working on something. She couldn't tell what he was working on. She finished up and left the water. She dried herself with the towel she had placed on a bush. "What are you working on?" She was expecting to scare him since he looked so focused. Cutter had heard her get out of the water. He had learned a long time ago to pay attention to his surroundings while he worked. "This is what I am working on." He presented two foreleg braces. Golden was confused. They looked like plain brown bracers. The only thing notable about them was a small button on each. "What is so special about bracers?" Cutter pressed a button on the top bracer. A five inch blade popped out. Golden jumped back out of reflex. "What the hell!?" Cutter was smiling. Pretty neat huh? I got them off that crazy mare from yesterday. I tinkered with them a little bit to increase their stability as well as sharpened the blades." Golden looked at the blades. She knew nothing about blades but she thought they looked sharp. They look shiny as well. "Why do you need them? You have your sword." Cutter pushed the button again making the blade retract. He offered the bracers to Golden. "These are yours."

"But I don't know how to use them." Cutter levitated the bracers onto each of her forelegs. He locked them. "Tap the buttons against each other and the blades with come out. The bracers are light enough for you to use. Since you have never killed a pony I am assuming you have no combat training." Golden nodded. She looked at the bracers that held the blades. "Are you going to teach me?" Cutter gather his scrap. "Yes I will but not right now. I will find you something to practice your strikes on later. For now we need to get home. We have enough supplies so that we don't have to search today." The pair went home.

Golden was examining her new tools. The blades were placed on the inside of each legs. She could easily hit each button by putting her fore legs together. "How am I supposed to use these things?" She tried standing on her hind legs and jabbing and swinging with the blades retracted. She kept losing her balance and falling back on her fore hooves. After about twenty minutes of trying she had grown use to standing on her hind legs while jabbing. It was harder to swing but as long as she could perform some kind of attack she thought it would be ok. Cutter returned with a mannequin of a pony. It was in poor condition. It was covered in dirt and cracks. Golden put all four hooves on the ground. "Where did you find that thing?"

Cutter put it in a corner of the room. "I found it lying outside of a cloths store. It is in bad shape but all we need it to do it become in worse shape. Have you been practicing?" Golden looked at her bracers. "Yeah. I am not sure how well I will do with these. I am not use to being on my hind legs so extensively. I doubt I will ever be useful with these." Cutter didn't waste his time tinkering with them for nothing. "You will be good with them. I will not stick around a mare who can't defend herself. I may not be able to save you every time. What will you do then?"

Golden still looked unsure. "I don't know." Cutter expected such an answer. "Luckily I do. You will fight. I plan on teaching you how to survive. The first thing I will teach you is how to fight. I don't like conflict but not every pony shares my feeling. I want you to jab that mannequin with your blades." Golden stepped towards it. She took her fighting stance. She pressed the button on her right bracer to let the blade come out. She stabbed the mannequin with all of her force. The mannequin was made of some kind of foam so the blade sunk into it fully. She hit is so hard the mannequin nearly fell over. Cutter came over and examined her hit. "Well you penetrated. That would surely hurt a pony but you messed up."

Golden look at her hit. She couldn't see anything wrong with it. She had hit the mannequins left shoulder. It had been facing her and it was the only place she could hit. "How did I mess up? I hit the damn thing." Cutter explained. "Well where you hit was good but you failed for a few reasons. Where you hit is ok because it would cripple a pony making them less able to fight. One bad thing is that you kept you blade in it. If you do that then some of the more brutal ponies might shrug it off and use it against you." Golden couldn't believe that a pony would shrug off being stabbed. "There is no way that a pony could use that against me." Cutter gave a questioning glance. "Oh really?" Cutter moved so that she could see his left fore leg. He moved the fur revealing a scar. "This is from a pony who thought like you. I didn't just kill her either. I made her pay for hurting me. I thought that I might die so I tortured her. If I was going to die I wanted her to pay."

Golden questioned her company. "What did you do to her?" Cutter avoided it. "Don't worry about it. To make sure that you don't get hurt make quick deliberate strikes. Don't fully extend you leg either. It leaves you exposed. Draw you blade back after each strike so that you can block any incoming attack. Now try again." Golden took her stance and stabbed the mannequin, doing her best to bring her hoof back. She successfully did what Cutter told her but she missed her target. She only scrapped the mannequin. Cutter saw she needed practice. "Good form but that wouldn't hurt a pony, it would only piss them off. Keep a steady hoof. The force behind the blow doesn't matter if you don't hit the target. I sharpened those blades so the should pierce flesh with little force. Focus on your accuracy."

Golden tried a few more times. Each strike being better than the last. Cutter told her to stop. She was starting to get in a groove. She didn't see how she messed up. Cutter brought out a stick as long as his sword. "Ok I want you to try to cut me." Golden thought this was dumb. "What? Are you bonkers?" Cutter shook his head. "Not at all. Try to stab me." Golden didn't want to hurt him. "No. I don't want to." Cutter didn't have the patience. "Do it or you can go ahead and leave." Golden didn't know if he was serious. She didn't want to risk it so she approached him. She went into her fighting stance and jabbed at him.

She had no hope of cutting him. She was slow by comparison. He side stepped, pushing her hoof away. He hit her in the barrel with the wooden stick. It didn't damage her but it sure as hell hurt. "Ow! Damn it cutter! That hurt." Cutter readied himself. "Pain tends to be a good motivation to not mess up. Now try again." Golden did as directed. She tried and again Cutter bested her and hit her with the stick but this time in the face. "Cutter! That fucking hurts, stop it." Cutter had a goal. "I will as soon as you learn. Again." The pair did this back and fourth a few more time.

Golden became angered at the dark stallion and didn't wait for him to tell her to go. She eventually just kept trying to hit him without thinking. She was in a fury from getting hit so much. She was unrelenting in her strikes. Only getting hit more. She eventually started flapping her wings and taking flight. This freed up her hind legs so she attempted to hit Cutter with them as well. Cutter saw that she was being blinded by anger and held her still with magic.

She floated in the air. "Let me go!" Cutter answered calmly. "Calm down and I will." Golden refused but couldn't get free so she calmed down after floating with nothing to fuel her anger. "Ok I am calm." cutter set her on the floor. "That was your lesson. Don't get angry during a fight. It blinds you and makes you reckless. You must stay calm and asses your fight." Golden thought about it. She wanted to say he was wrong but she wasted all that energy and didn't even mark him. He blocked or dodged every attack she made. "You are right. I lost my cool. How are you suppose to keep calm when you get hurt?" Cutter put the stick away. "You must learn to ignore it. It takes time but we will practice more and you will learn." Golden wanted to know how well she did. "So I know that I need to learn but do you think I could handle myself in a real fight?"

Cutter wouldn't lie to the mare. "Well I wish I could say you are good but If you went into a real fight depending on the opponent, you would probably lose. When I say lose I mean die. You do have one advantage though. If you aren't fighting a Pegasus then you can always fly away. Most Pegasus use their wings to hold weapons so even if you are fighting another Pegasus you might have an advantage in the air. That is a plus."

What stuck in Golden's mind was that she would die in a real fight. She looked a little sad over it. Cutter could see she wasn't happy about it but it was getting late and they both needed sleep. "I am going to bed. Tomorrow we will train more. You will be an excellent fighter in no time." Golden waved him away. "You go ahead. I will be up in a little bit." Cutter did what she said and left her. She had things to think about. _'Well today wasn't so bad. I got a bath and now at least I have a chance to defend myself. I wish I didn't seem like a burden though.'_

**A/N: Chapter 3. Short but I hope it was enjoyable. Happy thoughts on yall. **


	4. Do you ever forget?

**A/N: I got nothing. Please review. **

Chapter 4: Do you ever forget?

Golden Eye crept by Cutting Edge's door. Step by step she made progress to the stairs. The floor creaked as she put her weight on a particular board. She stopped hoping that it didn't wake Cutter. After a three second pause she continued to sneak downstairs. She had her bracers on and her mane was brushed. She had woken up early to practice fighting. She managed to get downstairs without getting caught by Cutter. She took her stance and began practicing. She tried her best to be quiet and effective at the same time. Golden got caught up in practice and didn't see Cutter come down stairs. He approached her from behind. "I see you decided on an early start."

Golden jumped back with a yelp. "Cutter! Why did you sneak up on me?" Cutter had his reasons. "I wanted to test you. You failed." Golden had been up less than twenty minutes and her day had already went sour. "What test? How did I fail?" Cutter elaborated. "Well you actually failed two tests. The first is your sneaking. You did better than I expected and might have not fooled another pony but I heard you leave your room and when you were outside mine. This is not as important as your other test, perception. You need to pay attention to your surroundings. I didn't even try to sneak up behind you. I actually tried to be louder than usual."

Golden had a defense. "What did you expect? I am paying attention to my fighting." Cutter wondered how many days she would have lasted on her own if he hadn't shown up. "That is what makes it worse. You need to pay attention to both your target and surroundings. It can be the deciding factor in a fight. A misstep can be the end of you. It can also be how you win. Look for structural weakness such as rotten floor boards or if you are outside holes in the ground. It can throw a pony's balance off giving you the chance to strike. You need to pay attention to other things such as the position of the enemy as well as allies. If you are not careful you can be easily flanked or hurt me when I try to help you."

Golden hadn't thought about it but what Edge said made sense. "That makes sense. I wouldn't want to hurt you." Cutter was glad she didn't argue. "What I want you to learn today is blocking. You can't rely on aggression in a battle. You need a defense as well. Now prepare to block." Cutter took the stick from the corner where he left it yesterday. Golden prepared to herself. She checked her surroundings. There was nothing around but the mannequin and her saddlebag in the corner. Cutter didn't let her finish before he swung the stick in an upward arch at her. She held her hooves up in defense out of instinct. Luckily instinct saved as the stick hit her bracers. It hurt but not as bad as if she had been hit anywhere else. "Ha! I blocked it." Cutter stayed in his calm state. "You did but that is one strike." Cutter swung again but from the side. Golden jumped back avoiding the stick.

Cutter didn't wait to swing again. It was another side swipe, but this time Golden was too slow. She was hit in her barrel. She was about to say something but Cutter swund in an up to downward arch. She blocked using her bracers. Cutter backed off. "Stop blocking with your bracers. Use the blades." Golden didn't understand why she couldn't block with the actual bracer. "Why? It is easier to block with them then the blades."

"Because if I had a blade then it wouldn't block it. It would likely cut your fore leg leaving you weakened and it can damage the blade mechanism. Now use the blades not the bracer." Cutter swung the stick again. Golden tried to block with the blades but she ended up not blocking at all and getting hit in the face with the stick. She stumbled back. "See! I could have blocked that if I could have used the bracer." There was a small mark on her forehead from the stick. Cutter wouldn't let her whining get her killed. "It doesn't matter if you could have blocked with the bracer because if you did it would have got you killed. I am going to try a different attack. It will be harder to block."

Cutter didn't swing but instead thrust the stick at her chest. She tried to block how she had been but it hit the bracer and slid into her chest. It poked her with greatly reduced power. It didn't even hurt. She thought she did well but Cutter corrected that thought. "Good job on either getting stabbed in the leg or the chest. I jabbed at you like a spear. Unlike a spear this stick doesn't have a sharpened end. If it did you would be in pain right now. Let's try again." The pair spent most of the day practicing. When they took a break Edge spent his time putting metal guards on the bracers so the Golden could use them to block with if she had to.

They went to the stream to clean themselves. After all of the practice and sweating they needed it. Golden didn't want to bring her weapons but Edge told her she always needed to have them incase they ran into trouble. He even told her he slept with is sword attached to him. The two finished cleaning and were headed home. Golden was asking about some of the scrap she had seen lying on the floor a yesterday. "What was that stone doing in with all the metal scrap?" Cutter about to answer when something caught his eye. Two Pegasi landed in front of Cutter and Golden. Golden yelp with surprise.

Both of the Pegasi had spears held in their wings. One of the Pegasi was brown and the other was a dull yellow. The both had short blown back manes and were both mares. The brown one made the demands. "Hand over all of your stuff and no pony gets hurt." Golden was scared and her first thought was to do as they said. She glanced over at Edge for leadership. He had already unsheathed his sword and was ready to fight. "I don't think so. You leave now or this gets ugly."

Both Pegasus laughed. The yellow one responded. "I guess that means we do this the hard way." Before the mares could attack Edge told Golden what to do. "Gold fly up. I will handle this." The Lavender mare did has Edge said and took flight.

The brown bandit turned to her friend. "Get the Pegasus. I will handle this cocky stallion." The Yellow Pegasus took flight. She used her tail to hold her spear. The brown Pegasus attacked Cutter. She took a swip at him in hopes to knock him unconscious. She failed ad Cutter ducked. He took a swing at her mid section. She hopped back but was nicked by his blade. Edge thought to himself._ 'Damn it! This one actually knows what she is doing.' _

The yellow Pegasus chased Golden. She was not the best flyer so the yellow mare was catching up to her. The bandit caught up to her and tackled her. Luckily the yellow mare couldn't use her spear while flying. The bandit held onto Golden. Golden was flying below her and trying her best not to fall out the sky. She was force to face the bandit as she was held. The bandit kept her in place with her hind legs and used her fore hooves to beat Golden in the face. She landed two good blows before Golden could do anything. Golden did her best to dodge the punches but she was hit several times and she was becoming disoriented. _'I have to do something. She will win if I don't.'_ She saw her chance. She hit her with the side of her right fore leg. It wasn't meant to hurt but the blade on her bracer was pressed and she now had some advantage.

She didn't want to kill her so she swiped at her wing hoping it would nick it and make her back off. She overshot her target and cut the pony's left wing clean off. The yellow mare screamed in agony. The bandit held onto the lavender mare. With the loss in lift the two started to slowly lose altitude. The bandit kept trying to beat Golden. She was trying to flap her wings as hard as she could do that she wouldn't plummet to her death. She could support both herself and the bandit. She knew she had to get the bandit off her but couldn't do so. The bandit held onto her too tightly. Golden panicked and tried punching the bandit in the face. She hit lower than she expected and didn't realize that her left bracers blade had extended.

The blade stuck the bandit in the lower jaw. It hit the weak spot between the chin and neck. It pierced her skull and killed the bandit. Golden screamed as blood poured onto her hoof. It flowed down her fore leg. She pulled the blade out trying to get away from the blood. She only made things worse as blood poured out onto her barrel. She freaked out and pushed the bandits body away. She regained her lift. She watched as the body fell to the ground with a splat. Blood scattered all over the ground. She looked at herself. Her fur was darkened from the blood that cover the lower part of her body. She looked with disgust.

Golden had little time to think about it though. It hit her that Cutter was alone. She flew back to where he was. Before she landed she could see the brown Pegasus lying in a pool of it's own blood. She landed next to Edge. Golden received a odd welcome. "Look at that. You didn't die. I am happy to see that." Golden let the comment fade. She could see that Edge had cuts on his sides and small amounts of blood leaked from the wounds. "Are you ok? You don't look so good." Cutter laughed. "This is nothing. You have looked better though." Golden didn't know what he was talking about. "I am fine. I barely have a scratch on me." Cutter wished he had a mirror. "You don't feel it yet but you will later. Your face is going to be black with all of those marks. I hope she didn't break your nose." Golden put her hoof up to her face. When she pulled back her hoof had blood on it. She also noticed that a few drops of blood marked the ground below her. "What the heck? I don't feel anything." Cutter explained to the mare. "That is because you have so much adrenaline that you can't feel shit. You will feel it soon enough. Don't worry, I have pain meds at the house."

The two left for home. The two Pegasi had nothing besides the spears. Edge took one but didn't want to go search for the other. By the time they got home Golden was feeling what Cutter was talking about. Every time her heart beat she felt it. Golden had never been in a fight and thought the pain was horrible. Cutter gave her the pain meds. He explained that they weren't very strong but would at least take some of the pain away. The two washed the blood off with some wet towels. The two sat down to eat together. Golden had no broken bones just lots of bruises all over her face. It hurt for her to chew.

She knew it would hurt to talk but it was plaguing her mind and she needed to know. "Hey Cutter need to know something." Cutter stopped eating and paid attention. Golden continued. "I killed a pony today. I ended another pony's life." She looked down at her hooves. The blood was gone but she thought she could still see it. "I did it with these hooves." She looked to Cutter. Her eyes were filled with regret. "Do you ever forget?"

Cutter thought she would ask this. "No. It will stay with you until you die. You will always remember what you have done. It becomes easier to take a life once you have done it but it will never leave you. It will mark your soul and haunt your dreams. Some my be harder for you to handle than others. It is easier when it is in the heat of the fight, but when you lay down at night they come back. I will say that some I do not regret. Others I know I made the wrong choice."

Golden had another question. "What does this mean for us? My father talked about a heaven and hell. He said it was sin to kill. If so then where does that leave us?" Cutter shook his head. "If there is a heaven and hell I do not know. I do not know where you would go. If there is a heaven than I know that I will never see it. My soul was lost a long time ago." Cutter put his food down and headed upstairs. "Goodnight Golden. I will see you in the morning."

Golden was left alone with her thoughts. _'What has he been through? I know he has killed at least five ponies since I have known him. He doesn't even seem phased by most. How many lives has he taken? What has he done to the few who haunt him?' _Golden finished her food and went to bed.

She had a hard time sleeping she kept thinking about the yellow Pegasus from earlier. _'Who was that? What was her name? Did she have a family? She was just like any other pony. She was just trying to survive. Could I attack another for food? Can I kill again?'_ These thought echoed in her mind until she drifted asleep.

**A/N: Golden took the next step in being a survivor. I hope you enjoyed reading about her milestone. Next time I will establish a goal for Cutter and Golden. Happy thoughts to yall.**


	5. One is better than none

**A/N: Ok so going to introduce goal for Cutter and Golden. Not many views for the story so far but it has only been up a day so I am not worried. I am worried about the site though. Lately Fanfic has been freaking out. Not sending msgs, having misplaced views, stuff that is not a huge problem but enough to make me wonder what is going on. For example, as of now this story has 5 views on chap 1, 0 views for chap 2 but has 2 views for chap 3. I don't believe that 2 people skipped chapter 2 but read chapter 3. It has to be the site. I have spoken enough on that. Please review.**

Chapter 5: One is better than none.

_Golden Eye flew in the afternoon sky. She felt the air whip her mane. The sun warmed her purple fur. It was a nice day. She suddenly couldn't feel her left wing. She lost her lift and started to fall out of the sky. She checked her wing to see what was wrong. When she looked she saw that it was gone. All that was left was a stub that sprayed blood. She began to scream as the ground came closer. But she was not above the dirt though. She plummeted towards a sea of red. She had plenty of time to see it come and react. She straightened her body so that she would pierce the water. _

_She landed flank first in the water. That water was warm and thick. Golden had accidentally let some of the water in her mouth. She found out it was not water at all. The copper taste revealed that she was swimming in blood. She had no way of escaping the sea. There was no land anywhere in sight._

_Something bumped her under the surface. She could not see anything but the surface. She had no way of know what touched her. She paddled as fast as she could in a random direction. Something bumped her again but this time cut her before it moved away. It cut her right foreleg. She was scared. "What the hell is that!"_

_She got her answer as something jumped out of the water and hovered a few feet above her. It was herself, it was difficult to tell with the blood dripping from the clone but she could tell it was herself. The clone had her bracer blades. She was now frightened and confused. She was going to say something but all that came out was a scream as the clone dived into Golden. The two became submerged for a short time before the clone lifted Golden out of the blood and into the sky. _

_They gained enough altitude to be level with the clouds. Golden's state had not changed. She was still too scared to do anything. The clone looked at her. They were eye to eye. The clone grew a wicked smile and stabbed Golden under her jaw._

Golden Eye sprang up in bed with a cold sweat covering her. She put her hooves to her head, covering her eyes. "What the hell was that?" She sat in bed thinking about her dream. She thought it through and she thought she understood. She was the bandit from yesterday and the clone was her. It nagged at her. She doubted if she could do it again.

Cutting Edge walked into the room. "We have a problem." Golden was slightly started by the stallion bursting in. "Damn it Cutter! I feel like you are trying to give me a heart attack." Cutter would have laughed normally but this was serious. "I am sorry but you need to follow me." Golden could tell that it was better to follow and listen than ask questions. The two went to Cutter's room. He peeked through the curtain to see if what he saw was still there. "Golden I want you to look out this window. Be careful to not draw attention to yourself. They are closer now."

Golden was nervous. She moved the curtain ever so slightly and peered out. It didn't take her long to see what he was talking about. Around fifty meters away stood two white Pegasus stallions. Golden didn't know what made them so bad that Cutter was acting like this.

Cutter had his reasons. He knew things that Golden didn't. What worried him was what the pegasi were wearing. They were wearing golden armor that royal guards wore before Equestria collapsed. Cutter's dad had told him a lot about the old world. Cutter had seen this armor before on random bandits that had stolen it or took it from dead guards. But the old ones were always banged up or in bad condition from combat or neglect. These pegasi's armor was pristine. From what Cutter could tell they had no dents or broken pieces. If he was a betting pony he would say that they were polished as well. It seemed that these ponies had not been in combat. The stood out in the open not trying to hide their presence in the slightest.

Cutter watched them along with Gold. The pegasi stopped walking. The one on the right cleared his throat. "Is there any ponies here! I am with the royal guard of Canterlot! Come out and you will not be harmed!" Cutter face hoofed. "Dumb asses. They are going to attract every bandit in the area."

Sure enough a group of ponies showed up after a few minutes. The two guards were approached by a group of six ponies. Three earth ponies, two unicorns, and one Pegasus. Cutter could easily tell that they were not friendly. Every pony had weapons. The earth ponies had light armor and bladed helmets. The unicorns sported swords. All Pegasi had spears except the bandit had two, one in each wing.

Cutter tapped Golden. "We need to go help them. Those guys are going to die if we don't." Golden nodded. Both ponies ran downstairs and outside to assist in the upcoming fight. Cutter and Golden quietly approached the bandits from behind. The bandits were too focused on the guards to do anything. The stallion Pegasus bandit was the one talking. "Royal guards huh? How about you hand over that fancy armor. We could always more of that."

The royal guards didn't understand what was happening. "We cannot give you our armor. Only royal guards can wear this." The bandit chuckled. "You think I was asking? You give up your armor or we take it from your corpse. I wouldn't normally ask but I would prefer to keep them in good condition." One of the earth ponies became impatient. He charged the guards with his helmet lowered. He stabbed one of the guards in an exposed part on the chest.

One of the unicorns swung her sword but it lost it's momentum as the unicorn received Cutter's sword in the back of the neck. The unicorn bandit dropped. The other bandits beside the earth pony with his helmet jabbed into a guard turned to Edge. They did not see Golden above them. She was still not sure if she wanted to take another life.

The Pegasus bandit gave his commands. " Me and Rock will take care of the guards. The rest of you kill this fool for interfering." The leader turned to the unharmed guard who was in shock and not helping his friend who was doing his best to fight with a hole in his chest. Cutter was now facing three ponies on his own. The remaining unicorn bandit swung her sword at Cutter. He blocked it easily but the earth pony mares wanted some vengeance for their friend. They both charged at him. Cutter wondered why earth ponies always charged head first like idiots. It can't be effective. Well unfortunately for Edge he was busy blocking the unicorn bandit's blade to handle both the earth ponies. "Help me Gold!"

Golden saw that she needed to help. She didn't want to take a life but wouldn't let the pony who saved her die. She charged at the unicorn with her blades exposed. The unicorn was oblivious to Gold. She landed on the unicorn. Her blades pierced the flesh. This gave Cutter a chance to defend himself from the earth ponies. He dodged the first, as he jumped out of the way he scraped his sword against the pony's side. Leaving a long cut along the barrel of the bandit. Cutter heard her holler in pain but did not look to see his work.

Golden had unfortunately not killed the unicorn mare with the first blow. The bandit now had two holes near her shoulder oozing blood. This would have been a really good blow if it had not been a unicorn, but it was a unicorn so her combat effectiveness was not altered as strongly. It would reduce her mobility but she still had complete control over her blade. Golden had enough time to see the blade. It was menacing. It was rusty and had blood stains on the handle. It was not like Cutter's. It had spikes coming out from the blade. Golden didn't want to find out what would happen if she got hit by it. Golden stood in her fighting stance with her fore legs up for defense.

The unicorn mare didn't scream in pain but it was obvious she was in pain. "Fucking Pegasus bitch! I am going to make you pay for that." She swung her sword at Gold. She dodged it. Another swing and she blocked with her improved bracers. The metal plates could now effectively block edged weapons. Cutter told her not to block spears with them but she had to worry about a sword right this second. She kept blocking or dodging the unicorns strikes. Golden was not close enough to get a hit in. _'Damn levitation spell. Need to figure out how I am going to get close.'_

The unicorn bandits strikes became weaker as time passed. Golden noticed the amount of blood at the unicorns hooves. Golden was going to try something. She began flapping her wings while staying grounded. She created gusts that blew up dirt. She managed to get some in the unicorn's eye. She covered her eyes in response. Golden took advantage of the situation and charged at the unicorn. She didn't know much about unicorn magic but she hoped that this would work. She swiped at the unicorns horn. The Pegasus could feel the impact as the blade broke the horn. It was not a clean cut but it broke the horn.

Golden flew back from the unicorn so that she wouldn't get stabbed in the back with the sword. The unicorns sword laid on the ground, uncontrolled by magic. The unicorn screamed, she put her hoof up to her broken horn. The bandit attempted to use magic. As well as not working it caused her extreme pain. "You fucking bitch! You broke my horn!"

Golden made an offer. "Run away and I won't kill you. I don't want to but I will if I have to." Before the bandit could answer a sword stabbed her through the eye. It was Cutter's sword and it pierced all the way through her skull. Golden cringed at the sight. Cutter yanked his sword out with magic. "We don't let them live. If we do it will come back to haunt us. I would rather have nightmares than wake to a pony slitting my throat." Golden looked over to where Cutter had been fighting. Both of the earth ponies lye on the ground lifeless.

The Earth pony stallion finished off the guard that had been hurt first. The other guard was badly wounded by the Pegasus bandit. The huge earth pony called to the Pegasus that was about to finish the guard that was now laying on the ground cowering. "Boss we got a problem." The Pegasus turned to his follower. "What could be the problem Rock?" The Pegasus noticed all of his group dead on the ground.. He saw Golden and Cutter standing together ready to fight. "You killed all of them? Shit that his one hell of a step back. How are you going to pay for these damages?"

Rock had a suggestion. "We could kill them." The Pegasus bandit was baffled by the Earth pony's stupidity. "That would be a solution to most problems Rock but I have another idea." The Pegasus turned to Cutter. The Pegasus had a golden coat. It was well kept and clean. He had a clean cut black mane. This pony didn't look like most bandits. He was groomed and looked as if he was from another time. He wore no armor either. "My name is Silver Tongue and I have a proposition for you two. How about you join us? You two are obviously capable fighters. You killed four ponies and don't have a scratch on you. I could use that skill." Silver Tongue smiled with pearly white teeth.

Cutter wasn't joining a group of worthless bandits. "We don't want to join you. I don't like keeping filth as company." Silver's smile turned into a sneer. "Who are you calling filth? I am going to cut out your tongue and choke you with it." Silver turned to his companion. "Rock, get the mare. I will kill the snobby unicorn." Silver ran at Cutter. Cutter thought it would be an easy fight with a reckless bandit but was proven wrong quickly. Silver stopped mid charge. His feathers moved and the spears heads shot out at Cutter. Cutter was taken by surprise and was hit with one of the heads. It scraped his right side. It wasn't much but it did leave a flesh wound. The spear heads reeled back in and Silver taunted Cutter. "Looks like I changed that not having a scratch this pretty fast."

Rock had the opposite approach when it came to attire. He was the only bandit that had heavy armor on. It was thick and covered most of his body. Spikes covered his barrel and his helmet had multiple blades on it. The only parts revealed were his legs, face, and top half of his neck. The mammoth of a pony stood nearly double the height Golden Eye. He charged straight at the mare. He didn't even bother lowering his bladed helmet. He was going to ram Gold with just his sheer mass. She hovered close to the ground. When he came close she side stepped and stabbed with her bracer blades.

She failed to pierce the armor. All she did was dent the armor and only barely at that. The stallion let out a deep chuckle. "You won't hurt me with those little things." He began to charge again. Gold stood waiting to side step again. The stallion was dumb but not that dumb. At the last stretch her increased speed and grabbed her before she could dodge. She landed with her back to the ground under the hulking brown gray stallion.

He landed a punch to Gold's mid section. It knocked all the air out of her. It had to be the single strongest punch she had ever felt. The stallion stood over her. "You are lucky I don't want to kill you. I could easily squash you." Golden was confused. She thought that he was trying to kill her. "I thought your boss told you to kill me?" The stallion sat on her tail and used his hind legs to trap her's. "I would do that but I think he will like my idea." Golden was only getting more confused. "I won't join your group." Rock laughed at the mare. "I don't want you to join us. I want you to be my toy. You would be with us though and if the boss doesn't want to keep you then I can always kill you later."

The mare realized what he was talking about. It brought back the memories of the three stallions that killed her parents and did what his pony was thinking about. The memories had brought sadness to her but now it brought fear of the future if this stallion got his wish. Her fear turned to rage and pumped extra adrenaline into her. She would not let this pony win. Her bottom was pinned so she pushed up with her wings, lifting herself to Rock's face. She brought her blades up and stabbed the pony in the face. She did not stop at one strike she released her anger of the past in a flurry of stabs. Over and over again. Blood splattered over her face. It got in her mouth as she yelled in an attempt to release her rage. The stallion died long time ago but Gold kept stabbing. His face became a mess of red flesh. He was no longer identifiable. All his features became a blob of red. His body had tilted and laid on the ground. Golden was no longer trapped but was enveloped with punishing the corpse of her enemy.

Cutter and Silver remained in battle. Both had sustained small cuts but were in fighting condition. Cutter had the disadvantage. He had fought the other ponies and was more drained of energy than Silver. "You should give up already. Just lay down and accept your death. I am sure that my friend will finish that mare any moment now." Golden landed next to Cutter covered in blood. "I don't think he will be getting up.

"What?" Silver looked around and saw the now dead Rock on the ground. "How did you kill him?" Silver didn't like his odds. "You killed all of my ponies! You have set back all my progress! You will pay for this, but not today. I would rather live to see tomorrow. I will see you again but next time I will be victorious." The Pegasus stallions threw his spears back to his tail and took flight. Golden looked to Cutter. "Should I chase him?" Cutter shook his head. "No. We have more pressing matters."

Cutter looked to the wounded Pegasus guard. "You. We need to talk." The Guard was injured but not critically. The guard feared for his life. He saw all the dead bodies around him, including his fellow guard and friend. "Don't kill me. I will tell you anything just let me live." Cutter was going to take him up on that offer. Gold and Cutter brought the guard back to their home. They tended to his more serious wounds. The guard began to speak. "My name is Phala-" Cutter cut him off. "I don't care about your name. I want to know what you are doing out here?"

The guard found it rude but he did realize that this pony saved him. "I am scouting for princess Celestia. She-" This time Golden cut him off. "Who is Celestia?" The guard was shocked. "How do you not know our benevolent ruler? She raises and lowers the sun. She protects us from evil." Cutter didn't have the same view as the guard. "Protects us? Ha! That is bullshit. She is a coward that hide behinds her shield in Canterlot. Has done nothing for us. She left us to die out here."

The guard was in no shape to argue. "As I was saying. I am scouting for the princess. She wants to know what has become of her kingdom." Cutter found this hilarious. "Her kingdom? This kingdom belongs to pain and suffering." The guard continued once again. "We are to report back to the princess and if the disease is gone she will start operations to re-inhabit Equestria. Has the disease died out yet?"

Cutter couldn't believe that she wanted to take back her kingdom after all this time. "Yes the disease has died out. But your won't just be able to walk out of Canterlot and claim the land. A entire generation has never heard of Celestia. They will probably not accept her as a ruler. They will probably hate her because they will see at stealing their stuff. We have all grown up in a world where you defend what you have with you life because if you don't have it you die. A lot of bandits kill on sight because most ponies will not give up their supplies. Do you know how bad it is out here? Entire towns have spawned from bandit encampments that grew in population because of rape. When the foal was born they taught it to be a bandit."

"Some ponies don't know anything but how to take by force. Murder is a daily exercise. My dad told me a lot about the old world. He told me that you had less murder than one a year. I have killed eight ponies in this week alone. How does Celestia plan on taking back Equestria when I am an average Joe?"

The guard had been told what would happen if the disease was gone. "We will march in force against any who oppose. We hope that most will join without a fight." Cutter saw the hole in this plan. "Really? You wouldn't last out here. Do you even have any real fighting experience?" The guard had been trained by the best. "I have years of training in preparation for this time."

Cutter waved his fore hooves. "Oh that is going to make such a difference. It is not a REAL fight. In a real fight you don't hold back. Your troops won't last against the under hoofed trick of bandits. You guys haven't ever killed a pony have you?" The guard shook his head. Cutter knew it. "Exactly what I mean. The ponies out here kill for FUN! You won't have a chance."

The guard had enough of this. "I am done talking to you. I was told to scout and tell ponies that if they can make it to Canterlot we are accepting ponies now." The guard exited the house and flew away. Golden dwelled on his words. "Accepting ponies? We can get into Canterlot. We can make it to safety." Cutter thought about it as well. "Yes if we could make it. It is far away on hoof though. They had to use trains back in the day and it was still a long trip."

Golden had hope. "It would be worth it. We would be safe. We wouldn't have to fight everyday for survival." Cutter agreed with Golden but he had a different idea. "We would be safe yes but it would be a long journey on hoof. I think that we shouldn't do it." Golden didn't understand. "What? A safe place appears and you don't want to go?" Cutter shook his head. "I never said I didn't want to go. I said WE shouldn't. You can fly. It would take you a fraction of the time to get there. I would slow you down. I want you to go on your own. I will go but I will not slow you down."

Golden hadn't expected this. "I am not leaving you. Either we go together or I don't go at all. No ifs, ands, or buts." Cutter wouldn't let this pony throw away happiness on a whim. "Go on your own. I can make it on my own. You don't need to stay with me." Golden shook her head. "You are wrong. I do need to stay with you. You saved my life and I would have died if it wasn't for you. I owe you and I will not abandon you."

Cutter let her win. "Fine we will go together. I will think about a plan to get there and we will begin preparing tomorrow." Golden was happy that she had convinced him._ 'This is great. We can get to Canterlot and be safe. No more killing. I can live a peaceful life.'_

**A/N: This is a long chap. I didn't think it would be this long. As long as you enjoy it I guess it will be ok. Happy thoughts on yall.**


	6. Reports

**A/N: So I am going to change shit up. Be ready for a transition. I am going to a different pony. I hope you like. I am giving warning to reduce confusion. Please review. It means so much to me. **

Chapter 6: Reports.

Rainbow Dash laid in her double bed. She lie awake staring at the ceiling. She tried being still as possible. Celestia had told Rainbow that she would soon be venturing beyond the shield that surrounded Canterlot and the area around it. Rainbow laid thinking about her duty. _'What will I find out there? I haven't seen outside Canterlot in nearly two decades. What about Cloudsdale? How does it look? The magic should still be in place but it must have taken a toll. What about Ponyville? It was fairly fine when we left. The disease hadn't reached there but the ponies were starting to freak out when we left. It doesn't matter I guess. It is my duty as a wonder bolt to follow the orders of the rulers.'_

Rainbow looked to her right at her partner. She caused the bed to shake slightly and her partner stirred. The unicorn opened her eyes slowly. Rainbow knew she would go back to sleep. "Good morning Rarity."

Rarity looked at the Cyan pegasus. "Morning darling. Did you sleep well?" Rainbow sat up. "Yeah just fine." Rainbow looked down at the covers. Her mind still wondering.

Rarity had picked up on Rainbow's mood instantly. She sat up as well. "What is wrong?"

Rainbow looked at the aged pony. Both of them hadn't changed much. Rarity more so then Dash. Dash had been mostly natural even before the world collapsed. Her coat had faded slightly. Making all her colors less vibrant. She had kept her figure with training.

Rarity had been more effected. Without her constant supply of beauty products her coat lost it's shine as well has her mane. She had already been white so her coat color was not as effected as Rainbow but her mane lost it's glamour. It looked more like Twilight's coat now. It took her some time to get use to life enclosed in a single city.

Rainbow still found her as beautiful as before. "I was just thinking about when I start going beyond Canterlot." Rarity had forgotten about the plan to re-inhabit Equestria and how Rainbow would have to play her part. "It will be fine. It can't be so bad. Didn't the princesses say that they would only do it if the disease was gone? You might not even have to go."

Rainbow had thought about that but didn't think she was that lucky. "That won't happen. They way they out it, the disease has either killed every pony and died out or the ponies have become immune and the disease has died out. It seems no matter what I am going."

Rarity was sure of herself. "I know you will be fine. How bad could it be? It will be sad but we will clean up and fix everything and life will go back to normal." Rainbow didn't know about normal life. " Normal? How could it? It has been so long. Nothing is normal anymore."

Rarity didn't like the pessimistic attitude. "Don't think like that. If you do you will only make things worse." Rainbow gave Rarity a kiss. "Yeah, your right. I need to get going now." Rainbow left for her meeting with the princesses.

Rainbow had a long walk to the castle. The sun was up and emitting it's glory across the streets. Canterlot had not changed much since it was closed up. The only major change was the a weather control station had been built above the city. It was so that the weather didn't get out of control in the area. Rainbow passed many ponies she knew. Many soldiers who she had trained with in preparation for the coming task. She had spent most of her time with the wonder bolts but she had trained with some earth ponies and unicorns in fighting without wings. She had her wings strapped down during them so she knew how to fight if the got hurt. _'We can protect ourselves. The soldiers are tough. If some bad guys try something they will regret it.'_

Rainbow entered the castle. A clock on the wall told her she was just in time. She opened the throne room doors. All of the princesses sat on each of their thrones. Three high ranking soldiers stood in front of them. Shining Armor sat on Cadence's right. Rainbow sat on the floor next to Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow whispered in her ear. "What is this about?"

Twilight didn't whisper her answer. She announced the meaning of the meeting. "We are here to discuss the reports from the scouts we sent a few days ago. Before we continue I wish to introduce every pony." Twilight pointed her hoof at the pegasus pony the left of her. "This is Striker, the head general of the pegasus forces." Twilight pointed to the center pony. "This is Iron Wall, the head general of the earth pony forces." Twilight pointed to the final pony to the right. "This is Ice Storm, the head general of unicorn forces." Twilight pointed to Dash. "This is Rainbow Dash, the bearer of the element of loyalty. Now that that is out of the way. Striker, what do you have for us?"

Striker stepped forward. She was navy blue. Rainbow could see the orange tips of her mane escaping from her hat. She wore her complete uniform. She was not a wonder bolt so she did not where that uniform. The uniform was blue like her coat and blended in with it. "The scouts that returned with reports of bad news. From what I can tell the ponies who are left are uncivilized. They are going to be an obstacle. That is just the ponies who returned. Most of the ponies have not returned and in light of the recent findings assumed dead. Nearly seventy five percent of the scouts sent out have not returned. Taking back Equestria will be a difficult task. From what I have heard the ponies don't even know about the princesses any more. We have one report that sticks out though. One of the scouts came back with a tale of a unicorn and pegasus saving his life. Unfortunately his partner was killed for his armor. But the unicorn and pegasus killed six ponies to save the scout. The unicorn told him of horrible things that have happened in the absence of leadership."

All the ponies looked shocked at the news. Celestia questioned Striker. "What things?" Striker didn't look to happy about telling the news. "Well the thing that stuck out to me was a mention of a town that… well it kind of spawned from…" Rainbow Dash became impatient. "Spit it out already!" Striker looked at Rainbow. "It spawned from bandits raping and training the kids to do the same."

Celestia didn't know how bad how it had become. "This is horrible. What have I done?" Luna looked to her sister. "Don't blame yourself. You did not cause this." Celestia did feel responsible for it. "We were suppose to lead them. I was suppose to protect them. It is my duty. I must make this right."

Striker was the one to ask. "How should we proceed?" Celestia felt compelled to continue. She had to bring order. "We will take control of one town at a time. We make right from this wrong. We will restore order to Equestria." Iron Wall stepped forward. "Where shall we start?" Celestia did not have the answer, she turned to Striker. "Where did the unicorn that helped your scout come from?"

Striker thought for a second. "I think it came from Ponyville." Celestia had her answer now. "We start there. Maybe this we can find this unicorn and maybe have some help."

Rainbow had a question for Striker. "What of Cloudsdale? Is it ok?" Striker faced the curious pony. "It seems to be mostly intact but not uninhabited. Seems to be heavily damaged and has a large amount of ponies staying there. We found a few chunks of cloud and building floating separated from the city. It looks like it could be worth salvaging but would take a long time and have to devote a lot of pony power to it."

Rainbow sighed. "Well at least it is intact." Cadence got Strikers attention. "What of the Crystal Empire?" Striker didn't have much information. "Well I don't really know anything about it. It seems every scout that went sent never returned. So we know nothing other than it must have a large number of bandits if they managed to get all our scouts." Cadence was saddened by the news. Shining draped his foreleg over her and whispered something in her ear.

The meeting continued on. The ponies discussed the rest of the regions of Equestria. It concluded with Celestia telling the generals to prepare to move immediately and report back when they are ready. Almost every pony left the room afterwards. Only Luna and Celestia stayed.

Rainbow walked beside Twilight. "Why did I have to attend the meeting?" Twilight had failed to explain why in her letter. "I thought you would like to know as much as possible since you will be going out there." Rainbow was happy that Twilight thought about her but that didn't fully answer her question. "Why not have the others attend as well? Why only me? I am sure Applejack would like to know when she can return to her farm."

Twilight had thought of the others but didn't find it necessary to have them in this meeting. "I will inform all the others about what is going on but I wanted you to attend because you are the only pony that is going out any time soon. You will be out there with the soldiers. You are the pony who will be at most risk. You were on the list to scout as well. I told them no because you are the element of loyalty and we can't risk you being hurt. You will have to go out there eventually. You are a wonder bolt and that means you will have to play your part."

Rainbow had no problem playing her part in this. "I know. I am ready to do so. It makes me nervous but I want to make things right just like any pony. When do you think that I will be going out?" Twilight couldn't know for certain. "I don't know to be honest. I have not seen the military prepare for an operation like this. You can go ask Striker if you want." Rainbow nodded and ran to catch up to the pony.

Rainbow caught up to the pony. "Ma'am I would like to know when I will be deployed." Striker had been talking to the other generals and didn't take kindly to being interrupted. "What makes you think that I will tell you?" Rainbow wasn't sure what she meant. "Twilight told me to ask you." Striker didn't like that Rainbow was friends with Twilight. "I know the princess is your friend. I have seen your type before. You have reached your position because you know a pony, not because you worked for it. Plus you are a wonder bolt and every wonder bolt is the same. A bunch of cocky ponies who don't know shit about fighting. You may be good enough for them but that doesn't make you good enough for me. Now get out of my face."

Rainbow did the exact opposite and was nose to nose with the general. "I am proud of being a wonder bolt and I worked my ass off to get where I am. I don't need any shit for it. It was one of the hardest points in my life when I was accepted to be a wonder bolt. Any pony who knows me knows I am the best. I just came over to ask a simple question. I am ready as any pony to go but I wanted to know when I would be leaving my loved ones. I didn't expect to get third degree for it."

Striker didn't like this pony. "Who do you think you are talking to a superior like that?" Rainbow glared into the generals eyes. "I am Rainbow Dash. The fastest and most loyal pony in Equestria." Striker wanted to nock this pony down a notch. "Fine you want to know when you will be going out? You will be the on the first mission. Be ready in two days because if you aren't I will strip you off your wonder bolt status." The general smiled. "I hope you don't die like so many of my other ponies, because I want to see your face after being out there for a day."

Rainbow had enough of this pony. She flew off to find Rarity. _'Damn bitch. Why does she have to do that kind of stuff. All I wanted was to know when I was sending out. It isn't like I was asking her dirty little secrets or anything. Where would Rarity be right about now? She had the day off today right?'_ Rainbow checked Rarity's favorite café first. Luckily she was there. Without saying anything Rainbow took a seat across from Rarity. Rainbow had dropped down from the sky and scared Rarity. "Ahh! Rainbow?"

Rainbow stretched her forelegs presenting herself. "The one and fucking only."

Rarity knew that Rainbow wouldn't curse in front of her without being upset. "What has happened?" Rainbow flung her fore legs up. "Oh for starters Striker is a total bitch. For two it seems that Equestria is in a shit hole right now. Oh and this is the best part. I have to leave in two days. Apparently the bitch doesn't like me and is sending me on the FIRST DAMN MISSION! So not only am I going out there I am going to have no information beside the little I have now! And all we know now is that it is REALLY FUCKED UP! This day has effectively turned to shit." Rainbow crossed her forelegs in a huff.

Rarity set her tea down. "Rainbow it will be ok. She may have made you upset but that is no reason to talk like that and to me none the less." Rainbow sighed. "I know Rare. I am sorry but it is just that I was already having trouble getting around the idea of going out and now I have to be one of the first ponies besides the scouts to leave. I heard the reports too. It isn't pretty. I will spare you the details but there is a high risk I might not come back."

Rarity wouldn't stand for this any longer. "I don't want to hear it. You are one of the strongest ponies I know. Not only physically either. You have overcome great things. You have made decisions that many ponies could have never made. I know that you will be fine because if you don't come back to me I will get you for it. Now how about we spend a relaxing day together?"

Rainbow smiled. "Yeah. You always make me happy Rarity. I am glad I have you, and I will always be here for you."

**A/N: Yes I am making "When A Rainbow Cries" and this story be true to each other. It is not a sequel to WARC though. WARC is independent. This story does have WARC exist though. So anything that happened in WARC has happened in this story but I might have a sequel to WARC one day so that means this story does not happen officially in WARC timeline. Also I am considering this story my first flop by the way. It has done so bad so far I am considering it a flop. The only reason I haven't taken it down is because I am not sure if I can ever recover it and I am only continuing it because if one person enjoys it I want that person to be able to finish the story line. If any one is enjoying it than thank you for doing so and please review it. Happy thoughts on yall. **


	7. Welcome to the new world

**A/N: I should have said this at the end of chapter 6 but I forgot. So if you haven't read WARC then have no worries I will not be incorporating it heavily. It is more of if you did read it then you know a little more about Rainbow in this story. I am not doing this to get people to read WARC. To give a basic for those who want to know what happened in WARC but don't want to read it: Rainbow went through some bad times and Rarity and her ended up in a relationship. That is the super simple version. Well back to this story. Please review.**

Chapter 7: Welcome to the new world.

A day had passed from when Rainbow had heard the reports about Equestria. Earlier today she had been given a letter explaining that a meeting was taking place in the castle for the upcoming mission. No details were given beside the location and time of the meeting. Rainbow walked through the fancy castle. It was noon and she was walking down a hallway in search of a room with a red ribbon hanging on the door handle. She found it and entered the room.

The room was dark but she could make out ponies sitting lined up to face the wall to the right when entering the room. One pony was standing in front of the group. "Glad you could finally join us Dash. We have been waiting. Take a seat." It was Striker. She was a leading the meeting.

Rainbow took the last seat in the back of the group. A projector lit up the wall behind Striker. Rainbow could make out the shadows of the ponies in front of her. She counted nine ponies sitting in front of her. Including her there was ten ponies attending the meeting.

Striker began to speak. "This is a confidential meeting. Meaning that no pony will speak of what I say out of this room. Don't talk about this when your at the bar after. Don't talk about it to your friends. Don't tell your family or loved ones. You DO NOT say a WORD. To keep the risk of rumors down I am personally over seeing the briefing to reduce how many ponies know. Now that, that is out of the way. We are here to discuss the mission you will be going on tomorrow. I don't like informing you of a mission on so short notice but I don't want to spread panic."

"Tomorrow you will being going to Ponyville." A map of Equestria projected onto the screen. Ponyville was circled in red. "It is a short flight from the edge of the shield. Unfortunately it is a long walk due to the mountain. You will have no help from any unicorns or earth ponies. This shouldn't be too much of a problem since you are more or less just scouting. Your mission will be to locate two ponies. We do not have their names but we do have a descriptions."

Words projected onto the wall behind Striker so that the ponies could read along. "The first is a stallion. A unicorn with a black coat and dark brown mane and tail. His cutie mark is a screwdriver and tape. He has a large scar on the right side of his barrel. This pony seems to know at least a decent amount about the Equestria that now exists and doesn't seem to be hostile. He saved the life of a scout but was not too happy about our plans to reclaim Equestria. This pony is known to have killed other ponies. It was in the defense of the scout but it is uncertain if he will cooperate with us but we need to try. He could have valuable information for us."

"The second is a mare. She is a pegasus with a lavender coat and grey mane and tail. Her cutie mark is a needle with some hay straws. She seems to be friends with the first pony. It is unknown if she has knowledge that would be useful but she could lead us to the stallion more than likely. She was seen defending the scout as well. Yes this means she killed ponies as well. Both of these ponies are armed and dangerous but they could help us so we need to find them."

The projector changed to a map of local Ponyville. Striker pointed her wing at a section of the town. "The ponies have been spotted on the eastern outskirts of the town. You should begin your search in this area first. If you don't find them then continue to search around panning out further and further. If by the end of the day you don't find them head back here. Do not risk staying in the town."

"The ponies we have encountered have been extremely dangerous. Try to refrain from splitting up. If you do split up you must stay in a group of at least five. Most bandit groups that were encountered were around three. If you stay in a group of five you will hold an advantage. Every pony you see is to be assumed hostile tell proven otherwise. Your mission is not to save ponies for now. Do not try to bring back any ponies. You can tell them to head here and help them but do not trust them. The leader of this mission will be captain Dedication. Will you please stand captain?" A pony on the front row stood up and faced the group. It was hard to see her but she looked to be green with a yellow mane and tail. "Thank you. You may be seated now. Does any pony have any questions?"

A pony sitting in the middle row raised a hoof. Striker looked at the pony. "Yes airman?" The pony answered in a timid tone. "What do we do if we find these ponies?" Striker looked away from the pony. "That is a good question. You are to approach them and try to work out a deal with them. Try to get them to stay in one place. You will report back here and we will send a group to escort them here. Any pony else have questions?" All ponies shook their heads no. "Good. Meet at the castle gates at O five hundred tomorrow and be ready to leave. Dismissed." The ponies filed out of the room one at a time.

Rainbow was the first one out and thought it would be a good idea to go see Twilight Sparkle before leaving the castle. After asking around she found her in the castle library. "Hey Twilight." Twilight had been reading while sitting at a table and was too focused to notice Rainbow come up next to her. She jumped when Rainbow spoke. Oh Rainbow it is just you. What brings you here?"

Rainbow took a seat next to Twilight. "Nothing important. Just wanted to see what you were up to." Twilight set her book on the table. "I was just reading a book on pony behavior. There isn't really anything useful to us. I was hoping there would be some studies on how ponies acted in extreme situations but there is not much here."

Rainbow wanted to know how Twilight felt about taking back Equestria. "What do you think of what we are doing? I mean the whole taking back control thing." Twilight thought before answering. "Well I am glad we are doing it. It needs to be done. From what the scouts said the ponies out there need our help. I am obligated to help and so are you. We have to save those ponies in need. If we don't than we are no better than the thing hurting them."

Rainbow actually felt better now. She hadn't thought about the ponies who weren't bad. She had only been thinking of the bandits who have hurt the scouts. She didn't think of the other ponies who were getting hurt from the bandits. She now had some motivation to help. "Thank you Twilight. I was doubting whether to go or not. You have made me feel better. When is it your turn to hold the shield up?"

Twilight had her schedule planned for weeks ahead. "I have to switch with Shining Armor tomorrow. Holding the shield up takes a toll on any pony. It isn't like that small one when Shining was getting married. We need the land around canter lot for crops so the shield is so much larger. I am glad we only hold it for a day. If it was longer we might not be as capable of doing our other duties."

Rainbow shrugged. "I would help if I could but I don't have that fancy horn there." Rainbow pointed to Twilight's horn. "Well I leave you to your reading. I have to go get ready." Twilight said goodbye and Rainbow left. Rainbow wanted to spend the rest of the day with Rarity.

The next day Rainbow woke up before the sun was up and put her wonder bolt uniform on before going to the castle to meet with her squad. Upon arrival she found out she was the last pony to arrive. Captain Dedication greeted her. "I see the wonder bolt is the last to come. I thought you were suppose to be the fastest ponies around."

Rainbow was getting tired of ponies giving her shit for being a wonder bolt. "I am on time so it doesn't matter." Dedication didn't care to argue. She walked over to a chest tat was locked and used the key given to her to unlock it. She opened it up and announced to her squad. "Come over here and get your weapons and amulets." The group huddle around and took their supplies. Striker knew the importance of having the ability to fight in air she each of the squad members received bracers with extendable blades. The younger ponies were mesmerized by the weaponry. They started to comment on how cool they were and how they had never used the real things in training. Dedication explained that the amulet would let them exit and enter the shield without it dropping.

It wasn't even time for them to be here much less leave but Dedication saw no point in standing around when they already had their orders and she was getting tired of the younger ponies being stupid. "Now that every pony is here we are leaving. I am not wasting time sitting on my ass." The captain took flight followed shortly by the rest of the squad.

Rainbow noticed that her uniform was different then any of the others. They all wore plain blue uniforms versus her flashy blue and yellow. She could see their insignias and if she was knowledgeable of it could tell what rank they were. The group continued flying in silence. After a few minutes of flying a pair of low ranking ponies started up a conversation. Rainbow could overhear the young ponies talking.

"What do you think we will see out here?" The stallion asked.

The mare responded. "I don't know I haven't heard anything from any pony what is out here. My parents said that it use to be beautiful."

"My mom said that you use to not have rations. That if you had the money you could eat all the food you wanted. And there was all kinds of fancy stuff that was really expensive."

"You use to be able to get really pretty dresses not just the ugly stuff they give out during the winter."

"I don't carry about dumb dresses."

The mare messed with the stallion. "Oh why not? I think you would look so pretty in a dress. Maybe make it a pretty pink? You would look so adorable!"

The stallion was about to respond but Dedication interrupted. "Shut your gabbing! We are here." All of the pegasi stopped and hovered high in the air on the outskirts of Ponyville. Rainbow looked down at the town. The first light of the sun shined over the town. Many memories were brought back to Dash. All of her time spent preparing to be a wonder bolt and all the times spent with her friends. But a sadness crept into her as she looked of what had become of the town. Plants had started covering everything and many buildings had begun to fall apart. She looked closely and noticed something horrible lying next to a building. A decomposing pony corpse laid leaning on a building.

The stallion that had been talking was the fist to say anything. "This place is messed UP!" The mare that had been talking to him smacked him with her hoof. "Shut up." Dedication knew what they were here for and wanted to get the mission done as quickly as possible. "Land and then we begin searching. We will start with the first house and continue from there."

The squad landed near the closest home. Half of the home was collapsed. Dedication gave her orders. " Madcap you take point. I want five ponies guarding the door, sergeant you handle that." A mare who had been silent nodded and picked out four ponies. The stallion who had been talking on the way here, Madcap stepped forward. He opened the door cautiously. He peered inside first then stepped in. Rainbow was last inside the house. They started looking around but found no pony.

When every room had been searched they moved on to the next home. Their searches were quick as they scanned the rooms quickly. They made excellent progress. They had been in Ponyville for twenty minutes and had already searched six homes. They found nothing though. No pony in sight. They approached the seventh house. Madcap took the point. The home seemed intact. It's outside was cleaner than the rest of the homes they had been to. Madcap pulled the door open. He looked inside and didn't see any pony.

He stepped forward. When his hoof crossed the barrier into the house there was a subtle snap. He looked down at his hooves. A fishing line lay broken on the floor near him. "What the…?" He didn't have time to finish his sentence when two large rocks swung from both sides and pan caked his head. The mare directly behind him screamed as blood splattered across her face. His body fell lifeless to the floor.

Every pony in the group faced the door way. The mare back peddled into Dedication. Which seemed to be the only pony not the least bit phased by this. Stomping came from the groups sides. Dedication was the only one to notice the bandits armed and facing the squad.

One of the pegasus bandits rammed a spear into the side of the unwary pony. She howled in pain. It went deep into her barrel. She toppled to the ground. The rest of the squad saw what was happening and diverted their attention from Madcap. It was too late for another one of the squad members as she got her throat slit by a earth pony with a blade helmet. The squad was down three members within one minute. The rest of the squad got a hold of themselves and readied for combat. All except the young mare who was laying on the ground, stunned over seeing Madcap die.

The bandits who had already hurt the squad jumped back to not get hurt. The squad had six members ready to fight. There was six bandits. It would be an even fight but half the bandits had heavy armor and the ones who didn't had better weapons. Two of the bandits were unicorns wielding huge claymores. The three earth ponies had heavy plates of armor that cover most of their body. The only pegasus bandit had a spear that had greater range then the bracer blades the squad was carrying.

Dedication didn't like these odds. The squad had weapons but they had no armor. The uniforms were made for speed not protection. Her first thought was to order a retreat since there is only one pegasus but she wouldn't leave a pony behind and the mare was freaking out on the ground. "Some pony get that mare on her hooves." One of the ponies rushed to her side and immediately began trying to bring the mare to her senses.

The five remaining ponies stood waiting just like the bandits. No pony moved. Rainbow could hear her breathing and feel her heart beat. She had gotten a surge of adrenaline and everything seemed to slow, making theses few seconds last forever. One of the bandits smiled. He gave the order in a calm tone as if it was the most normal thing in the world, and it probably was. "Kill them."

Five of the bandits charged. The earth pony who gave the order didn't move. Rainbow had a earth pony charging her. She used her wings to lift up and be able to be as effective as possible. She heard a grunt to her left but was focused on her target the charged right past her un able to stop in time. Rainbow saw her chance and hopped onto the pony's back. She stabbed him into the back of the neck where he was exposed.

The stallion didn't go down. He whipped his helmet around in an attempt to hit Rainbow. She was nicked in the chest. It barely drew blood but it was close. The stallion faced the hovering pegasus. "Get down here you pussy!" Rainbow wasn't stupid. She was not going to risk her life over a stupid insult. Rainbow took a second to see how the squad was doing. She saw that they were down another member but so was the bandits. Dedication had dispatched one of the unicorns and was fighting the other earth pony.

Right as she checked the other unicorn decapitated an older squad member. The head flew through the air until it landed on the ground with a wet thud. She looked over and saw the sergeant fighting the pegasus with the spear. The sergeant dodged thrust after thrust of the spear as the bandit laughed. Rainbow had not been paying attention and the earth pony threw a rock at her. It hit her wing and knocked her out of the air. She dropped to the ground and rolled, preventing herself from being hurt further. The stallion gave her no time to recover and rammed her with his chest.

Rainbow fell over and skidded in the dirt. The stallion ran up on her and lifted into his hind legs. Rainbow looked up to see the stallion about to stomp on her head. She rolled to her right as the stallion's hooves slammed down where she had been. Rainbow jumped up and tried to regain her stance but the stallion swept his blade causing her to duck. She saw her opportunity and stuck her blade into the stallion's jaw. He stopped dead and fell on his side. Rainbow yanked her blade out. "Fuck…you!"

Rainbow tuned around just in time to see the claymore headed for her face. She ducked and avoided the blade. The bandit unicorn looked disappointed. Not mad or shocked. She didn't say anything, she just shrugged and began to swing the claymore with her magic once more. Rainbow had to repeatedly dodge the monster of a blade. She was barely escaping getting diced. It was tiring for her. She didn't have the stamina that she had when she was younger. _'This bitch is going to get me if I don't do something.'_

Rainbow thought wrong. Right as she thought that a green blur flew in from the side. Dedication nailed the unicorn in the side and began stabbing in quick movements. The captain ended the pony's life in seconds. Rainbow stood there like an idiot afterwards. The captain faced rainbow. "MOVE YOUR ASS!" Rainbow snapped out of it. She looked around and saw that the only bandit left was the pegasus. The last earth pony was nowhere in sight. She looked over to the traumatized mare. Rainbow was shocked to see her dead. The pony who was tending to her had a deep cut on his left foreleg.

Dedication flew above the pegasus still jabbing away at the sergeant. The captain cut the wing off that was holding the spear. The bandit freaked out once he realized that his wing was gone. He didn't have much time to freak out before the captain shoved a blade in his temple.

"Ahh son of a bitch!" The mare who rushed to the traumatized pony's side was yelling about her injury. The captain rushed over and examined the cut. "You will be fine. We just need to get you to a doctor." She looked around to see who else had made it. The bandits had lost five members and the leader ran away. The squad had lost six and one injured. Most of the squad members had bled out during the fight and all lay around them. Blood covered the ground. Rainbow found it sickening.

Dedication helped the pony up. "Ok we need to get home. Mission is a fail." She looked at the hurt pony. "Can you fly?" The pony nodded. "We are going now. Rainbow get the tags off the dead then head back to Canterlot." The captain and the sergeant flew off with the injured pony.

Rainbow collected the dog tags from her squad members. It hit her that this could have been her. _'What the hell just happened? I just nearly died!' _Rainbow looked over the body of the stallion she killed. _'I killed a pony. We were here to find a pony and talk. That is it! We weren't even doing anything that dangerous and six ponies died! What the fuck!'_ Rainbow got the last of the tags and flew as fast as she could back to Canterlot. She arrived and was immediately greeted by medical personnel. They checked her over before letting her proceed, they took the tags and guided her to the showers. "Why do I need to shower?" The unicorn mare just looked her over with a funny look.

Rainbow looked at her sides to see the blood. She was so focused on other things that she failed to notice the blood splatter all over her uniform. When she got to the bathrooms she looked in the mirrors to see her face covered in blood. She was left alone to bathe. She stood letting the water fall on her body. Her mind wondered. _'What is going on? What have I gotten into? There is eleven dead ponies back there. Where my friends use to live. Where Pinkie and I pranked Rarity. Where Twilight helped me pass my wonder bolts exam. Where Applejack and I raced and had the most daring pony competition. Where Fluttershy overcame her fear of flying in front of ponies. There is ELEVEN dead ponies back there. Six were my team mates! Holy shit I need to talk to some pony about this. Can I talk to Rarity? No. She will want me to never do again and she will freak out. Twilight is busy. I am sure that AJ is busy, as well as Fluttershy. I don't trust Pinkie to talk about such a serious matter. Maybe Birch Curve can help me.' _

Rainbow finished her shower and headed to Rarity's work place to tell her she was fine. Rainbow walked into the tailor store. It wasn't really a store since no pony bought anything anymore. Everything essential was made and given out. Personal possessions were not common. Anything that could be used for survival was monitored. It may be safe in the shield but life wasn't the same as before. Any object that was a want was paid for in labor. IOUs were currency. It was funny seeing a colt or filly finding a bit and not really caring. Some ponies made necklaces from bits stringed together. But if you find a IOU with a ponies signature every pony jumps at the chance to use it. Rainbow thought about this as she made her way to the back room to talk to Rarity. Then Rainbow thought about outside the shield. How the ponies didn't ask for anything. They didn't say anything besides to order the others or insult them.

Rainbow shook the thought out of her head. She saw Rarity sewing some plain cloth together to make sweaters for winter. "Hey Rare." Rarity turned and saw Dash. "Oh I didn't expect to see you here darling."

Rainbow shrugged. "Well we got done so I thought I would let you know I'm ok." Rarity stood up, walked over and gave Rainbow a hug. "Thank you. I was worried about you. Not that I am mad about it but why are you back early?"

Rainbow shook her head slowly. "No. I will tell you later. For now I am going to see Birch Curve." Rarity was worried but knew that Birch was a good pony and as long as Rainbow had a pony to talk to she thought it was ok. "You do that. I will talk to you later. I love you." Rainbow started to leave. "I love you too."

Rainbow went to Birch's place. She regularly visited him so it was no big deal to see him. Rainbow opened the door to his home. Birch Curve sat in a rocking chair, probably made by him. The earth pony greeted Rainbow. "Hey there. I didn't expect to see you today."

Rainbow took a seat next to Birch. "I didn't plan on coming here either, but I needed some pony to talk to." Birch had not been told about Rainbow going out today. "Oh why is that?"

Rainbow let out a sigh. "Well I didn't tell you but I went outside today. Like I went beyond the shield." Birch listened but did not interrupt. "We where looking for some pony. A black unicorn. That isn't the point. We where out there for maybe an hour. I don't know I lost track of time. We were ambushed by some bandits. We lost three ponies right away. We didn't know what was going on at first and were unprepared. One of the mares freaked out and couldn't get a hold of herself. She just laid on the ground freaking out like an idiot. The squad fought and we won but not by much. We had the numbers too."

Rainbow's voice was getting louder with every sentence. "It was horrible. I saw a pony's head fly off. The bandits. The bandits didn't even care. One laughed as he struck at my sergeant. Laughed! As he was trying to murder a pony! They didn't even try to talk either. As soon as they saw us they tried to kill us. No negotiations, no demands. Just attack. They didn't care about us. I don't know if they wanted our stuff or they just wanted to kill us. I had to defend myself just like the others. I killed one. It was a big earth pony. I stabbed him in the back of the neck. He shrugged it off like nothing and came at me again. I got a good angle and I took him down with a blade to the jaw. I killed a pony! I ended another pony's life! What do I do now?! Do I continue? How am I suppose to do that again?" Rainbow looked at the brown earth pony.

Birch had been listening to every word. Doing his best to understand as much as possible. "I cannot make this decision for you. I cannot relate to what has happened to you either. What do you truly fear? Is it killing another pony or is it dieing yourself?

Rainbow thought about it before answering. "A little of both. I think I am more afraid of dieing. I am not afraid of dieing as much as I am of leaving my friends and Rarity."

Birch thought as much. "I am sorry but you are being selfish. What you are doing is for the better of all ponies, not just you and your friends. You must do this. If you walked away now could you live with yourself knowing that you abandoned every pony in the military and every pony out there that needs your help? That you abandoned our future. That you left behind the Equestria we all know and love. That you gave up when every pony else stood strong in the face of danger. What if Rarity was out there? What if she had not been lucky enough to make it to Canterlot? Would you leave her behind for your own life?"

Rainbow emotions got the better of her. She got in Birch's face. "NO! I would never leave her behind! I would DIE for her! No pony can tell me otherwise! What do you know? You haven't been out there. You stay here and make furniture, safe behind the shield. I am the one who brought you here. If it wasn't for me then you would probably be dead."

Birch Curve was hurt by her words but knew better than to lose his cool. "I know Rainbow. I thank you for saving me but that is how I feel, and I signed up by the way. I will be going to training soon enough. I may be older and not as fit as most but I am going to play my part. Are you willing to do the same or will you cower behind the shield like a foal?"

Rainbow backed off and calmed herself. She realized that Birch cared for her and wouldn't say such things if he didn't believe in them. "I will play my part. I am no foal. Thank you for showing me that I was just scared. Sorry for yelling at you." Birch blew it off. "Don't worry about it. You were stressed. You are a brave pony, I know that. I just needed to show you that your fear was blinding you of the big picture."

Rainbow was glad that she had met Birch so long ago. He was a pony to depend on. "Thank you for being there all these years. You are a great pony." Birch appreciated the kindness. "Thank you but there is many ponies greater than I."

Rainbow said goodbye and left Birch to go see Rarity. She had made up her mind and was ready to play her part.

**A/N: Well that was a little long. Birch Curve is OC by the way. For any of you who don't know the name of every character that has ever appeared on screen. I surely don't. About this story being considered a flop. Yes it is still considered one. So you know it has less than ten percent of my other stories views. To be accurate it had like 5%. That is really bad by comparison. And no reviews. None. It saddens me deeply. Well nothing I can do about it. But you can so please review. Happy thought on yall.**


	8. Preparations

**A/N: warning: transition. I would like to reduce confusion even though within a few sentences you would realize what is going on. Remember that last we checked Cutter and Gold wanted to go to Canterlot. Ok this chapter might not be up to expectations. Sorry, I try but sometimes it is just not enough. I will leave the final judgment up to you. So review. **

Chapter 8: preparations.

Cutting Edge stood next to the stove cooking breakfast. _'Something is bugging me. I can feel it in my gut. Maybe it is this Canterlot trip. Something is not right about this but this is the best bet for her safety.'_

Golden Eye came downstairs. "Hey Cutter." Golden was ready for today. "What have you planned for the Canterlot trip?" Cutter had a plan but wanted them to eat first. "I will tell you after we eat." Golden complied.

The two finished their meals and Cutter started to explain his plan. "The first thing we need is maps. If we set out for Canterlot without maps we could easily get lost and that could be the end of us." Golden listened as Cutter continued. "Then there is supplies. We need a lot of food and something to carry it in. We need to find a wagon for it. We need extra medical supplies as well. We will be a prime target for bandits so we will likely be hurt on the way. The next priority is training. We will have to fight on the way there so you need more training. There is more things we need but they are easy to deal with. These four things are what I want you to focus on."

Golden nodded. "Got it. Food, medicine, maps, and training. When do you think we will be ready?" Cutter didn't know. "Not sure but the sooner we start finding those supplies the sooner we leave."

The two finished eating and began searching. The first day they played it safe and searched homes that seemed abandoned. This yielded little fruit. They found some food but no medicine or maps. The next day was the same. The upside to taking longer was that Golden had more time to train. Cutter placed the food in the cabinets. "No map. You would think that the ponies around here would keep one or two but no. They apparently never left this worthless town."

Golden finished putting away the little amount of food they found. "We will find it eventually. We just need to keep looking." Cutter was frustrated. "I know we will eventually find it but I need it soon. I must begin planning the route. The sooner we get them the more routes that I can think about taking and the less risk we take. We will try to find a library tomorrow. I hope this town wasn't so backwater that they didn't have a library."

The next day Gold and Cutter left in search of a library. Cutter had been in many cities and towns and they usually had public building more towards the center. The two snuck deeper into Ponyville. Cutter preferred the outskirts because less ponies lived there and if ponies came around they were more easily seen. Within twenty minutes of being in the center of town Cutter had spotted ponies. There was three of them. All earth ponies. They had weapons and armor but not overly so. Golden was following Cutter and didn't see the ponies. He stopped her and pointed to them. He whispered. "Sneak around them."

There was enough buildings so that sneaking around them wasn't that hard but time consuming. What struck Cutter as odd was that the earth ponies were standing in the middle of a market. They seemed to be waiting for something. The market had run down stalls for trading good. Some had been taken away for salvage and the few left were not enough to hide behind. Cutter and Golden had made it into three building without them noticing. Cutter peeked out the window to see if the ponies moved.

They hadn't but a large mixed group of ponies approached them. The large group had somewhere around fifteen ponies in it. Cutter told Golden to stop. He pointed out the window and the two watched the meeting.

The large group was obviously bandits. They each had armor varying from really heavy plating to light straps that barely covered anything. The only pony out of the larger group that didn't where armor Cutter recognized. _'Silver Tongue?'_

Silver began to speak to the smaller group. "I see that you received my invitation." A mare stepped forward, apparently the leader of the smaller group. "We did and would like to accept. We have supplies and knowledge that could be useful to you."

Silver liked what he heard. "I thought there was more of you than three. Where is the rest of your group?" The mare wasn't dumb. "I have more ponies nearby. I can't risk revealing the entire group." Silver was even happier to hear that they weren't dumb. "A smart one huh? I like having smart ponies around. I will accept you. I will let you gather your things. One of my ponies will lead you to our camp afterwards." Silver turned and started to walk away. As he left he tapped a unicorn on the shoulder signaling that she was the one to show them the camp. The larger group left with the exception of the unicorn.

Cutter and Golden saw all of this take place. Cutter didn't like any of this. _'It has only been a few days. That Silver Tongue guy has a huge group of ponies. This isn't good. We need to leave as soon as we can.'_ The two started back at maneuvering around the bandits. They managed to make it past the market without getting caught. They soon found a large tree. Cutter had seen many types of buildings but not many made from a still standing tree.

The windows were boarded up or broken. It was neglected and in poor condition. Cutter had seen the candle on the door before. It was the symbol that marked many libraries. Cutter found it sad. This source of knowledge now neglected and left alone to rot. This library probably had many books of value. Books that taught how to make things or farm. Spell books that could be infinitely useful. It was truly a depressing sight.

Golden and Cutter approached the door and opened it. It let out a loud creak as it slowly opened. The library was dim and it was hard to see. Little light entered from the boarded windows. Only select sections had light shining in. The two began looking for a book that could have a map of the local area in it. After a few minutes of searching Golden found a scroll that looked different than anything else in here. "Cutter, I found something." Cutter went over to Golden. "What?" Golden held out the scroll. "It has some weird emblem on it."

Cutter levitated the scroll. He brought it near a window to read better. He read aloud. "To my faithful student Twilight Sparkle. In sight of recent events I want you and the elements of harmony to come to Canterlot. They may bring close family but must not bring too many members. Bring everything you own. You will being staying in Canterlot for the foreseeable future. Princess Celestia." Cutter recognized the symbol at the bottom. It was the royal seal.

Cutter became angered. He threw the letter on the ground and stomped on it before lighting it on fire. "Fucking worthless princess! All she cared about was her circle. She deserves to be out here. She deserves to feel the pain that life is. If we get to Canterlot I am going to kill that BITCH!" Golden had not seen Cutter so angry before. He always kept his cool, even in combat. She was scared of him and he realized that. Cutter looked at Golden. "I am sorry. I hate that she left all of us to die and she sits in her castle not helping any pony."

Golden didn't say anything she just resumed searching for the maps they needed. Golden did eventually find the maps. There was maps for every city in Equestria. Cutter took the ones that had Canterlot and Ponyville. There was more for the areas in between the two cities. Cutter now had maps that could show every path into Canterlot from Ponyville. The pair made off with the maps. Cutter could now plan the route they would take.

After a few days of searching the town for food and medicine they found little of either. Enough that they were set for at least a week but not enough if they went on the trip. They would be covering a lot of ground and needed more food to keep their energy up. Cutter hated it but they needed more supplies and they had been seeing more and more of Silver Tongue's gang. So they didn't have time to search the whole town. "I know that I said we shouldn't do it but we have to. We need to search the stores."

Golden wondered why Cutter would suggest this. "I thought you said they were death traps." Cutter hated the truth sometimes. "They are but we need the food. It is becoming more and more dangerous to stay here. We need those supplies and we need them now. I have already planned our route and we need more food. Not to mention medicine. All we have is basically band aids and ointments for stuff like rashes. We need antibiotics and disinfectants. We will probably have to find a hospital and take from it. That can be more dangerous then the grocer."

Golden understood the grocer being dangerous but who would stay in a hospital. "Why would the hospital more dangerous?" Cutter had been in desperate situations and didn't like what he found in hospitals. "Because some hospitals have insanity wards. For some reason some of the patients stick around. It breeds a bad situation." The thought sent shivers up Golden's spine. "When will we go then?"

Cutter didn't want to go today. It was late and he didn't have the energy to sneak around town. "We will do it early in the morning. We have maps so we can find the store easily. We just have to make sure no bandits are camped up in there."

Golden looked unsure. "What if they are?" Cutter wouldn't lie to her. "Depends on how many there are. If there is too many we have to look somewhere else. If not then we kill them." Golden hated killing and had to have a reason to. "Why kill them, can't we just steal the food?"

Cutter shook his head. "No. We won't be able to move enough food and we would more than likely get caught and have to fight anyway. It is better to get the drop on them." Golden nodded. "That makes since. I just don't want to be responsible for killing more ponies." Cutter put a hoof on Gold. "I am sorry that we live in this world but we do. Blame the disease, blame Celestia, even blame fate but don't blame yourself. We were born into this. We didn't ask for it. The only thing we can do is do our best to survive so that maybe one day things will get better and we can live calm lives, away from this pain."

Cutting Edge and Golden Eye woke the next day and before going to the store the planned to, went to Sweet Apple Acres. They searched for a while and found a cart for their trip. They were about to leave when Golden suggested that they search the home before leaving. Cutter would rather not but they might find something useful so caved in and the ponies searched the farm house.

Cutter separated from Golden for a few minutes while searching and came back into the living room where he left her. He found her looking through a photo album. "What are you doing? You should be searching for supplies." Golden didn't care. She was lost in some pony else's memory. "Look Cutter, they are so happy." Cutter rolled his eyes as he walked over and looked at the pictures. There was four ponies in most of them. A little yellow filly with a blank flank, a orange mare with a stetson, a big red stallion, and a old green mare. They all sat having a picnic. They all smiled and laughed with each other. It was a photo of happier times that Cutter had never known.

Cutter didn't see a point in this. " Why am I looking at this?" Golden looked at the picture and explained. "Look at how happy they are. Look at the smiles on their faces. They aren't worried about finding food. They aren't worried about a pony killing them in their sleep. They are worried about having fun. That is what I want my life to be. I would give up so much to live like they did."

Cutter took the album. "I know you do but it isn't going to happen. We don't live in that world. We don't have that luxury. How about you go look upstairs. Maybe we can find meds." Golden didn't say anything to the mean stallion. She went upstairs and resumed searching. Cutter continued to search the ground floor.

It didn't take long for the mare to come back downstairs. "I didn't find anything useful but I did find this note. It was next to some… bones." Golden cringed. Cutter took the note. "What did you find." He read the note.

"Dear apple family. I write this note so that you know I did not die with hate in my heart. I knew that you had to leave me behind. I hope you all are happy together. I am sorry I will never see Apple Bloom get her cutie mark. I am sorry that I will never be able to see Big Mac or Applejack find the ones they love and get married. I am sorry I will not be able to see Apple Bloom grow up into a beautiful mare. Don't regret your decision Applejack. You made the right call and I am so proud of you for everything you have done. I feel myself fading, I must end this. I have always and will always love yall. Granny."

Cutter dropped the note. It fell to the floor. "Thank you for wasting not only your time but mine as well." Cutter walked out the door. Golden didn't know how he could act this way. She picked up the note and put it in her saddlebag.

Cutter hooked the cart to himself and began to pull it towards town. It took a while but the two ponies made it. They were a little while from the store but it was in sight and no pony had spotted them. The store wasn't huge but could hold a lot of food. Definitely enough for the two of them. Cutter laid a few rules for Gold. "You stick close to me. We kill every pony we see, but we do it smart. Don't just run in there. We have to remain undetected. If we don't them we are done for. Got it?" Golden nodded and they proceeded.

They circled around and looked for a back entrance. They found it and it was unguarded. Cutter went up to the door and looked all over it for traps. He saw none and eased the door open still looking for traps as it opened. He couldn't find one. He thought that these ponies must be stupid. He entered into a large room for unloading products before putting them on shelves for sale. No pony in sight. There was unopened boxes of food. It was canned food. Cutter was surprised there was so much. The stores he went to had food because there was so many bandits in them.

Cutter was tempted to just take it and leave but knew better than that. If one of the bandits saw them they would be screwed. He motioned for Gold to follow. He found a door that led to the main room. This is where ponies would be. Waiting near the entrance for some unsuspecting pony to walk in. Cutter and Gold moved around the dark store. The windows that would have lit up the place were cover and provided no light. Cutter blended in with the darkness. Making it easier to sneak around.

Gold saw a pony up ahead and got Cutter's opinion and pointed her out. She was sitting near a window trying to get what light he could while looking at a magazine. This struck Cutter as odd because a lot of the bandits he ran into seemed to not be able to read. Cutter whispered to Gold. "Stay right here. If any pony comes by warn me or deal with him. I will take care of this one." Cutter didn't know how well this would work. The pony was facing inwards and if Cutter wasn't careful would easily be seen.

Cutter and unsheathed his sword and prepared to jump the pony. He came feet from the pony. The bandit saw movement and looked up. The bandit realized that it wasn't one of her buddies too late. Cutter closed the gap and shoved his hoof in The bandit's mouth to muffle her. Cutter slid his sword across the pony's throat. The bandit went wide eyed and tried to cover her new hole. It was pointless, blood flowed from the wound. Cutter backed off and the pony fell to the floor. Cutter could hear her gurgle. The magazine fell down to the ground. Cutter looked down and saw what the bandit was reading. It was a dirty magazine. It solved the mystery of if she could read. A thought slipped into Cutter's head but any action would have to taken later.

Cutter turned to see a bandit facing him but not reacting to his presence. Cutter readied to fight but the pony dropped. Behind him was Golden with her blades out and blood dripping from them. No words was spoken but they both nodded understanding that now was not the time. They continued to clear the store. They found and ended four more ponies' lives. Cutter took care of most so that Golden didn't have to. Cutter felt her capable but thought she deserved to not have any more blood on her hooves than necessary.

They store had been cleared . They could now get the food they needed. Cutter told Golden to go bring the cart around back. Cutter would have done it himself but needed some time to retrieve a certain item. Golden brought the cart back and came in to tell Cutter. Cutter was checking the boxes in the back to see if they actually had food or not. "Looks like we are good on food. Now just need some meds." Cutter looked to gold. "You did good. Thank you for having my back."

Golden was glad to get some recognition. "You are very welcome. Thank you for noticing." Cutter opened his saddlebag. "To show my thanks I have gotten you a present." Golden was surprised by this. "Really?"

"Yeah I did." Cutter pulled the magazine that the bandit mare had been reading and gave it to Golden. Golden looked at it confused. "What is this… playmare?" Cutter held back a smile. "Open it up." Golden did as he said and saw what he wanted to see. It was pictures of stallions proudly posing with their "equipment" at the ready. Golden went red. Cutter burst out laughing at the mare. "Oh that face is priceless. Some pony give me a camera."

Golden threw the magazine at him. "You are an ass!" Cutter still chuckled as he responded. "What you don't like that? Maybe you roll the other way huh?"

Golden raised her hooves as if to it Cutting. "No. I like stallions. I'm not gay or anything." Cutter kept the mare going. "Then why are these pictures so bad? Do they not… entice you?" Golden wasn't stupid. She knew he was jut yanking her chain. "They are dirty photos. It is weird."

The stallion wasn't dropping it. "Aw come on. You must get lonely at night. These fine gentle colts will keep you company." Golden turned the tide. "Oh I get lonely. I am just wondering when you will stallion up and give me a visit." She gave a seductive look as she countered Cutter's game.

Cutter didn't know if she was kidding or not and decided to change the subject. "Let's load this food and head back home." Golden smiled. "Yeah let's do that."

They pair didn't have any trouble getting back home. No pony attacked them and the cart worked just fine. The only thing important was that They stumble upon some bodies on the way back. They bodies were two houses away form there home. Cutter examined the bodies. They were fresh. Eleven bodies total. One was inside, the rest lay outside. Cutter found it odd the some had uniforms on. It only meant that Celestia sent more ponies to die. Cutter tried to make sense of it.

"There is too many to be a simple scouting party. Looks like that one fell into a trap and the rest were ambushed by these bandits. But why were they here?" Golden didn't have any answers. The two forgot about it and continued on home.

**A/N: Again, sorry if you don't like this chapter. It needs to exist and it does so that is that. I hope that the next chapter is better. It should be, well I think it will. No promises. I don't break promises and it is a lot easier to not break promises when you don't make them. Please review to tell me that this chapter sucked, and happy thoughts on yall.**


	9. On the edge

**A/N: Well this chapter isn't that exciting but it should show some character traits if nothing else. Please review.**

Chapter 9: On the edge.

Striker approached Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. She bowed before speaking. "Your highnesses. I have come here to ask something of you." The throne room was empty besides the three ponies present. The princesses waited for Striker to continue.

"I want to change our tactic for finding the unicorn who helped my scouts." Celestia didn't see why this had to be brought to her. "Striker. You are in charge of the matter. What you do is your business. There is no need to ask our permission."

Striker did need to ask. "I want a full scale invasion of Ponyville. I want an army to take it. I want help from the unicorns and earth ponies as well." Luna thought this action was uncalled for. "Why do you need an army to find one pony?" Striker had her reasons and She planned to shared them.

"I have lost too many ponies searching for him. I have sent out multiple groups. Every time they come back with heavy casualties. The first one lost six ponies and one was injured. The next group I sent more ponies. I sent twelve. This group didn't get ambushed like the last but through the course of there search four ponies were killed and two were injured. I continued to increase the size of the group. The last one I sent was twenty ponies. They didn't have as much trouble because the bandits wanted nothing to do with such a large group but they failed to find the pony either. If I send such a large group then they will be avoided and the pony we are looking for will more than likely hide and not be found. I want an army to surround Ponyville so that we will not lose as many ponies and no pony can escape. We are looking for one pony but it wouldn't hurt to capture Ponyville. If we continue with my current tactic more ponies will die and I don't want that on my conscious." Striker waited for a response from the rulers.

Celestia thought it over. "I say yes. I don't want any more ponies getting hurt than is necessary." Celestia looked to Luna. Luna nodded showing her approval. Celestia began to write letters to the other generals. "It is settled. Ponyville will be the first town of many to be reclaimed. It shall know order once again." Celestia set a date for a meeting to discuss the specifics then Striker left to make sure everything would be ready to go.

**Transition.**

Cutting Edge and Golden Eye had postponed going to the hospital. They had enough food for a long time and had even gone back to get more from the store. They were set for a few months. Which was good because winter was rolling around and they would need it if they couldn't make it to Canterlot. They sat in the living room of the house they have been staying in. Gold had been pestering Cutter about the uniformed ponies. "Why is there so many? In the past few days we have seen so many dead. They are all in this part of town too. What does this mean Cutter?"

Cutter had thought about this and didn't have an answer for the mare. He was frustrated because he didn't know what to do. "I don't know! Stop with the insistent questioning. I don't have an answer for you. Now change the subject."

Golden didn't like his attitude but knew nothing good would come of upsetting him further. She had nothing important to talk about so she went with some simple what ifs. "What are you going to do if we get to Canterlot?" Cutter wasn't expecting to be questioned on it and hadn't thought about it himself. He thought for a few seconds before answering. "I'm not sure what I will do. Maybe I will slit Celestia's throat. That would be satisfying." Cutter had a dark grin on his face.

Golden wished he was joking. She changed from this subject. "Let's move onto something else. Would you rather have a filly or a colt?" Cutter didn't get it. "What are you talking about?"

"I am talking about children. If you had a foal would you like a boy or girl?" Cutter had thought about this. "Neither." Gold was surprised. "So you don't want any kids? Why not?" Cutter was quick to answer. "I will not bring life into this world. That would be torture. I will not be responsible for another's pain. I would rather not see something that I am responsible for die before my eyes. That is what would happen. It would die. No matter how hard I tried to keep it alive. This world is too dangerous. So no. I would never help bring a foal into this world. It would be cruel."

Golden had one more question. "Would you ever marry then? If you found the right mare that is." Cutter huffed as if about to laugh but stopped. "Stop with the questioning. We need to go look for medicine. I hate it but we have to go check out that hospital." Golden nodded knowing Cutter did not want to share his opinion.

Cutter and Gold left the home. They had been in the home for the morning and didn't leave 'til noon. Only when outside did they realize what was happening around Ponyville. Soldiers were lined up surrounding Ponyville. Pegasi hovered above guarding the air. None of the ponies were close enough for Gold to see the faces.

**Transition.**

Celestia stood with her army near Ponyville. A soldier walked up to Celestia and told her that everything was ready. Celestia moved to a podium. She used a spell to amplify her voice. She could be heard clearly across Ponyville but did not yell. The spell made her voice carry but the soldiers next to her heard her voice at the same volume as usual. "Ponies of Ponyville. This is princess Celestia of Canterlot. I am here to reclaim this town. Do not run. Do not hide. You have nothing to fear. I will restore order. You will once more know peace." Celestia addressed her troops. "Noble soldiers of Canterlot. Today marks the beginning of a new era. You shall be the force that restores order to our lands. No more shall we cower behind a shield. Today we return Ponyville to it's former self. Tomorrow we restore all of Equestria to it's glory! March!"

On queue the soldiers of Canterlot moved forward. They closed in on the town. Hundreds of soldiers stopped any pony from thinking of leaving. Fear got the better of some ponies in the town and stray pegasi flew up from the town. They were caught by the waiting soldiers. After being caught most of them stopped resisting but a few fought for their freedom. Some soldiers were injured as bandits escaped. Only a few bandits escaped though.

The ground was more secure. Any bandits who tried to harm any of the soldiers were dealt with quickly by skilled unicorns. It doesn't take a lot of electricity to kill a pony. Celestia watched as her army contained and secured parts of the town. They would choose structures to contain and process every pony in Ponyville. Bandits would be forgiven of their crimes unless a witness stepped forward to accuse them. There would be fair trials for any accused. Celestia would show these ponies how life was meant to be.

**Transition.**

Cutter saw the approaching soldiers, as did Golden. Gold was intimidated by the soldiers. "What do we do Cutter?" The stallion thought about what to do. "There is not much we can do. Let's go inside. Stay out of the way of chaos." Cutter walked back into the home with Gold and waited.

"What do they mean by restore order?" Cutter could only guess. "Well we know they want t control Equestria again so I guess they are taking Ponyville first. I thought we had more time but it seems they are planning to move fast." Cutter looked Gold in the eyes. "I guess you get your wish Gold. You will be safe."

"What about you? You will be too." Cutter wanted no part of this. "No. As soon as I can I am out of here. I won't let that bitch be my ruler. If I wanted weak leadership than I would join a bandit camp."

Cutter chose a bad time to speak his mind. Soldiers poured in the door right as he finished his sentence. "How dare you speak of the princess in such a manner." There was five total. Three earth ponies and two unicorns.

Cutter smiled. "What you going to do about it? I will say whatever I want about that whore." A earth pony charged at Cutter. "You will pay for those words!" Cutter saw it coming. He did not want to die so he did not draw his sword. Cutter did shove the earth pony's head to the floor and held it there. The hot blood earth pony was under Cutter's hoof, immobile.

The two unicorns aimed their horns in preparation and spoke in a stern tone. "Let him go and lay all weapons on the floor. Gold immediately did as the said and took off her bracers. Cutter looked to the pony on the floor and then back to the unicorns. He shrugged and unclipped his sheathe. It dropped to the floor. Cutter lifted his hoof off the solders face. "Let the tyranny begin."

One of the unicorns sent a spell to Cutter. Cutter saw it coming but did nothing about it. It made contact and Cutter's body went limp and dropped to the floor .Gold was about to rush over to him but a earth pony stepped in front of her. "Don't think about it."

The soldier that had been knocked to the ground stood up. He looked at Cutter. "You piece of shit." He kicked Cutter it the gut. One of the unicorn walked over to Cutter. "Wait… Is that the?" He pulled out a piece of paper from a small satchel. "It is. This is the pony we are looking for. We need to take him to the princess."

The soldiers picked up his gear and started to walk out the door. The earth pony who had kicked Cutter guided Gold. They followed as the unicorn levitated Cutter away.

**Transition. **

Cutter woke up in a makeshift bed. He felt out of place. He looked around. He moved his head to fast and became dizzy. "Where am I?" He slowly scanned the room. It was dark and he could smell mold. There was a window nearby. He stood up and looked out. He saw ponies being guarded by Celestia's soldiers. _'I guess that answers my question. I am caught. A bunny waiting for a hungry fox to come around.'_ Cutter looked to see if anything useful was around him. He spotted his sword lying on the floor next to the bedding. He picked it up and hooked the strap around his body.

A guard walked in from a door hidden in the darkness. "Cutting Edge is it?" Cutter was surprised that this mare knew his name. "Yeah. What does it mean to you?" The unicorn turned and walked. Away. "Follow me."

Cutter didn't know what was going on and didn't want to cause a fight so he followed. He came to realize that he was in town hall. He guessed this by the paintings of mayors that had lead Ponyville. He then saw what the mar was leading him to. He saw Golden Eye sitting on a podium. Next to princess Celestia. They were talking. Gold didn't seem to be upset. She was actually smiling.

Cutter eyed his blade and then looked around the room. Guards lined the walls of the huge room. Every one watching Cutter like hawks. He was being lead closer and closer. The mare stopped right in front of Celestia. "Your highness. Cutting Edge." The mare stepped out of Cutter's way. Celestia turned to Cutter. _'It will be worth it.'_ Cutter jumped onto the podium. He drew his blade and held it to Celestia's throat.

Gasps echoed all over. Guards rushed to surround Cutter. Cutter looked into Celestia's eyes. They held not fear but shock. "Hello dear princess. How has Canterlot been? I bet just dandy huh?" Celestia answered. "It has been safe yes. Can I ask why you are holding a blade to me?"

Cutter smiled. "I don't know. I guess I just wanted to give you a proper welcome. Now how about you tell me why I shouldn't slide my sword against that beautiful pampered neck of your's?" Celestia was calm. "Because I am hear to restore Equestria to peace."

Cutter laughed. "Oh that is hilarious. You mean you are tired of not controlling it? Maybe you miss your fancy cuisine. Or do you not have enough ponies to kiss your ass? Oh, oh, oh, I got one. This is a far fetched one, but not completely ridiculous. Maybe, just maybe. You wanted to see some ponies bleed for you so you decided to basically start a war with the rest of Equestria. Because that is just the kind of COCK SUCKING BITCH YOU ARE!"

Celestia closed her eyes. "I have done nothing to you. Why do you threaten my life?" Cutter grinded his teeth. "NOTHING!? You have done EVERYTHING to me! You left us all behind! You left us to die! You are a coward! You hid behind that shield. I don't remember but my father told me what it was like. You held ponies back while they ones you selected entered Canterlot. When they became restless your guards cut them down. You could have let them in but you didn't you did nothing. That is why I will never follow you. You are no leader. You are worthless."

Anger left Cutter. He sheathed his blade. "And that means you aren't worth wasting my life on." He started to walk away. Soldiers rushed to grab him. Celestia spoke up. "No. Don't touch him. He is right about some things." Cutter stopped and listened. Celestia continued. "I was a coward and I should have let those ponies in but I didn't. That is my fault. I am trying to make this right now. I need your help Cutter. Help me make this right."

Cutter shook his head. "No." He walked away.

**A/N: Hate me if you like but that is where I am ending the chapter. I think it is short but I can't tell I don't have a word count on this program. I will be able to tell when I upload it but then it will be uploaded and I don't feel like going back and editing a dumb author note. I originally was going to make this longer but I like where this stops so yeah, you get this. Also tell me what you thought of the transition thing. Happy thoughts on yall. **


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